


Purity: LoveLUST

by Magistrate_Lemon



Series: Purity [2]
Category: Persona 2, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Anal Sex, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossdressing, Demon Sex, Demons, Depression, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Drug Use, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gay, Gay Male Character, Hallucinations, Homelessness, Hyper Sexuality, Kinks, M/M, Many Kinks, Mental Health Issues, Not Beta Read, Other, Past Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Persona 5 Spoilers, Phantom Thieves - Freeform, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prostitution, Psychosis, References to Depression, Sex Toys, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2020-01-23 01:50:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magistrate_Lemon/pseuds/Magistrate_Lemon
Summary: I am a Shadow. I have no true self.Once upon a time, I was just a British lad living in the outskirts of a town called Redditch with my friends. I was a somewhat normal person, with one major difference being I am an extremely sexual person compared to others to the point it was getting a little... Out of hand, to say the least.But one day I woke up with a place called Mementos and before I knew it I was stuck in Japan for a year stealing hearts from vile adults with a group of teens calling themselves the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I helped them to the best of my abilities and gave the best... Services to the shadows who tried to stop us.This is my life, how I lived as a mostly homeless teen by day and became the promiscuous thief Kagema by night.





	1. Whims of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, new entry to the Purity series! What do you mean I have like three other works I should be doing? Nah, I'll be fine, haha.
> 
> Anyway... 
> 
> Technically, this is the very first fic I'm doing that will have... Actual smut in it. As well as delving more into the rather fucked up themes.
> 
> If there's anything I mistagged from the minor to potentially triggering content, please do tell me. For chapter 1 there will be descriptions of gore and mention/heavily implied sexual assault.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

_Begin Recording 596llp555-2_ _**.** _

_**.** _

_Testing... Testing... Testing..._

_Commencing scan._

_Subject Purity-04 has been found._

_Playback 20/11/20XX_

_...Warning, bits of data have been corrupted in the footage. Do you still wish to play? There will be issues with the video playback._

_..._

_Very well._

_Commencing playback._

_**.** _

 

 

_"Kagema! What's going on?!"_

I scanned the floors of the casino with sharp eyes, ignoring Oracle's question altogether as I quietly hung from an obnoxiously bright neon sign with my legs with hanging platforms on my sides. Everything was going down horribly wrong as predicted, police were on our tail already and the bait was already taken.

The route was still secure and the emergency exits were blocked off, as long as nothing goes terribly wrong...

My eyes drifted onto a black cloaked figure, Joker, as he looked over from the lights with a smirk on his face and a silver suitcase that hung from his fingers before running off.

He's got the police's attention, for now.

Now it was my turn to do my part.

_"What a fool you are."_

I plucked a metal capsule from my side, brushing my fingers against it I began to slowly count in my head for each hostile I began to see, enemy shadows made by her cognition still continued to form one after the other like a swarm of hungry locusts after our fair leader.

_"I refuse to let someone as valuable as you die under me."_

"Not when I'm so powerless."

I finished his sentence, causing the Persona to snarl. I could feel his anger, but I took immense satisfaction that like the many times before, he could do nothing.

No regrets to be made, I need to do this now.

"YA-HA~"

My voice was loud, loud enough and strangely playful to grab some of the shadow's attention before I flung myself up from the post and landed on the upper level of the casino with an unnecessary, stylistic flair that Joker loved to do whenever this stuff happens. He always loved to show off, after all, that was just how he rolled. I couldn't help myself but follow even with my leg.

Some of the shadows pointed at me and suddenly began to yell at each other. I could see their skin writhe and crawl from underneath those heart-shaped masks from here, their police batons crackling with electricity that would surely knock out a normal person.

Disgusting.

My voice certainly got Joker's attention.

"..?!" Joker's expression turned into one of panic, easy to tell even with the mask. "Kagema?! What-"

"I'm being distracting sweetie!" I yelled at him. "You better run right now otherwise your gonna regret it!"

I could hear the rest of the group arguing beyond Oracle's communication power, all except one voice.

"Kagema! Stop this right now, if they get you, you'll be-"

"You're the priority." I shrugged. "Besides, we still have to... Y'know, get Lily out of here too?"

I didn't bother to wait for his response, without wasting a second I immediately jumped off of the sign and landed onto a nearby platform and threw the capsule in my hand to the crowds below.

_"Kagema!"_

And my heart was set aflutter at the pained and panicked screams below as I made my escape.

* * *

"No problems on my end, you?"

"No, can't find the leader anywhere."

"And the other brat?"

"Lost him too."

"Dammit, search the area again, he couldn't have gotten far!"

* * *

_"You intend to sacrifice yourself for these humans this easily?"_

Alright. I'm in the staff passageway right now. It's darker than last time too cause I can barely make out what the bits of paper plastered on the walls even said anymore, guessing the electricity is off now. Need to thank Oracle for that as well later when I get the chance.

Well, if I'm alive before the end of this. I could no longer hear them anymore, guess we've really been cut off, huh.

Alright, let's see. It was this way to the opposite end past this safe room, wasn't it? Where we initially started?

_"How foolish you are."_

"I don't intend getting myself killed," I mumbled. "You're being too much of a pessimist."

_"Humph."_

"Over here!"

Metal pounding against the floor.

Electricity crackling behind.

Shit! Some of the guards have found me. I'm so close! If I'm caught now then they'll be focused on Joker again! There was three of them behind me as well, their lanky forms ran at me in their police attire and their heart-shaped purple masks seemed to glimmer and glow. I couldn't tell if there were anymore close behind but I knew there were more people after me.

I ran as fast as I could but...

 _"You won't be able to get away on with your leg the way it is."_ My Persona scolded and as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Ever since the Okumura incident, my leg has been fucked up ever since I've been a liability this entire time and I hated it.  _"Set me free, I will ravage them."_

A growl escaped my throat, I was hoping I wouldn't have to come to this but...

The wall in front of me was easy to climb thanks to the hook I still had, and I was so close to the main floor, however, unless they were distracted I would easily get caught.

Looks like I'll have to fight-

"Megidola!"

"What on, GAHHHH!"

..?! Was that-

The group of shadows behind me screamed in agony as bright blue and white lights descended upon them from nowhere, the initial blast dissolving the two of them while knocking the third one back a fair bit disoriented, only having a few bruises.

It was an Almighty attack, but there was only one person here besides me who could do that.

And, speaking of the devil, from the corner of my eye I briefly saw a figure in white and red. The figure smiled at me behind his pointed red mask, mouthed silent words of apology at me before promptly leaving into the shadows like a figment of my imagination.

'...Thanks, bud.'

But he didn't finish the last one? How sloppy of him! I'd be sure to scold him later!

"Fine then. Come on out,*̴̢͔̬̻̱̥̣̥̯̝ͮ̇͆̂ͪ̀̒̂̀̓"̴̵̩͖͖̜͔̌̆̊ͦ̈͑̓̾͌̈ͫ̐̊͑ͭ͌̅ͦ́͘͘͞&̈́̇̎̍̿҉҉͏̶͉̺͉̯͉̝̜̣̪̣̝͎͕̥$̴̧̨̩̲̹͚͖̮ͮͮ̍̆̒̆̉̌̀͟ͅ%̶̸̢̧̺̮̭̘ͣ́ͯ̋̓̒͒ͥ͐́͛͆ͬ͟ͅ!̱̹̪͚̺͖͖̹̱̼̻̰͌̄̒ͤ́̚͟͠͡͝ͅͅ?͚͔͕̣͓͙̣̮́ͯ͒̋̐͒̇́̕͢_̵̨̡̰͈̘͙̜͓̮̇ͮ̍͗=̵̴̡̟̤̘̗̹̲̤̩͓̲̱̖̭̝̫͚̝͋̀̍ͭ̇ͧͨ̿̉ͩ̄͒̉̍̉̍ͤ͛͜"

My face was warm and suddenly my chest was on fire. Blue fire surrounded my head like a whirlwind, a black and white figure appeared before me and I could practically sense the malice emanating from his form.

_"Cower before me, Crawling Chaos!"_

Screams, they started to scream in agony as I swung my grappling hook onto the ledge and started my slow climb up the wall.

And for once I actually started to feel bad for them.

..A little.

* * *

"Don't let them escape, kill them all!"

Jeez, these bastards are really starting to push it. And these didn't look like shadows nor bits of her cognition, were these real people? If that's the case, how did they get into the Casino? They were in one of the security rooms but... I didn't know anymore.

Ignoring that, I'm still running here, have to be really careful now not to collapse.

Up the stairs, up the stairs, come on!

_"I won't let them capture you."_

"You said that before didn't you?"

_Bang!_

"Over here, I found one!"

Shittt!

Men in black and they have guns, not good!

I ran some more, I forgot how big the damn casino was. There was like five floors to this nightmare and I had to climb up most of these stairs with- Nghh!

Punching my knee, I continued to run.

_"These humans are persistent."_

"I know right?" My voice was turning raspy. I was up a floor now, close enough to my exit point. "Not shadows nor cognition then?"

_"No, these are not Persona users either."_

"Wait, really? How did they get in?"

_"...I would have assumed someone let them in, however, I sense something strange about these humans. You know that when humans are transported between this world and the other they have a residue of energy left behind on them. I sense no such energy."_

"That- That's, huff, c-concerning."

_"Do not lose your breath just yet, we're at our floor."_

We were!

"Swell!"

Now if I turned around the corner of this corridor, we should be... Yes! The only safe emergency exit I checked! So if I were to go through this door-

_Bang!_

"Freeze!"

Alright, we're here! The main dining hall area thingie in the casino! The railing is still in good condition as well as the massive gold coated chandelier in the centre, nothing slippery and there's a ten-foot drop between me and the floor with many, many people staring at me as they began to slowly disappear from existence in shock.

 _"The Treasure has been successfully stolen."_ My Persona confirmed for me.  _"We need to leave before the Palace collapses."_

At least that was something I could agree with! The bottom floor was still unsafe and since the roof was blocked off and there was a massive easily broken window in front of me begging for me, there was only one way to go!

"Hands in the air, now!"

I turned, behind me were the three men in black, pistols and handguns aimed at me. I wasn't afraid though, I knew they wouldn't shoot. They were cautious of me and of their surroundings, from my sharp grin to the Palace eroding around us. They must be curious about my clothes too, clothes completely unfit for actual thievery.

"There's nowhere to run!"

But, they would never know, not when my body demands more excitement!

My smile got even wider as I pulled out another capsule before throwing it in front of the men who immediately got to cover. With this useful distraction, I reached for my grappling hook and wasted no time to shoot the hook at the outer layer of the chandelier.

One of the men, clearly smarter when he noticed the dud capsule, reached out to me-

"Stop!"

But it was already too late as I flung myself off the railing and began to fall into the crowds below.

I flicked the button on my gun before I could hit the ground and I propelled myself up before I launched myself onto the other side of the room with a blast from my feet, startling the men and the crowd behind me.

_"K-ma! Kagema! Can you hear me?! Joker's here with us and he's safe, where are you?!"_

That was good, then I can leave.

'Sorry guys. I'll get back to you later.'

Communication was not a good idea right now.

And with that piece of good news-

"See ya later luv!"

With all of my strength, in an act of stupidity that would potentially rival Skull's-

I threw my entire body out of the window.

* * *

Misjudged my fall.

Railing broke.

Glass in my skin.

Metal in my legs.

Bone.

Everything hurts.

Bright lights assaulted my eyes.

I think... I think my legs worse.

I can't move.

* * *

"-Him?"

Nghh... What?

"-Thief? Looks like a prostitute's- clothes."

My- My head what... What happened?

"Sad, isn't it? -Whore's group was betrayed it would seem."

B-Betrayed? I was... Right?

Hah... It's getting dark.

N... Narl... I need... Need...

* * *

"Hey, wake up."

What...?!

I was awoken by the startling pain of freezing water being thrown onto my body. My body, my everything was in pain but perhaps my legs were in worse condition, I felt a... Ngh. There was a dull pain and from my previous experiences that was not a good sign for my future.

Dark.

It was still dark, but my eyes were slowly getting used to it, I could barely make out a dim light in front of me and the outlines of two men-

"Hey!"

Pain.

"Guh!"

My body was flung to the floor as a swift punched connected to the side of my face. I almost screamed when searing pain erupted from my legs, I couldn't see them, what happened?

Liquid on the floor, too warm to be the water.

"Hm. Guess he's coherent enough. Didn't expect it to be some nobody teenager though."

My hands... I... Were they cuffed? Was I cuffed to a chair?

My mind was too much of a mess. What was going on?

I remember... Jumping from the window and... The railings were booby-trapped, it got my legs and I was-

"You seem to be aware of your situation though. Good. Then you know if you fight back you'll only regret it later."

...It was one of my traps. One of my modified gin traps for disabling larger shadows destroyed my legs.

Someone put my trap there.

Someone knew where my traps were and planned to trap me with them.

I can't walk any more.

I can't walk any more.

I'm useless.

"Hm, looks like you know what's happened to your legs. Surprised you're still conscious though even with the morphine and the... Special drugs we injected you with." The man in front of me scoffed with dead grey eyes. "Of course, we had no time to send you to a hospital, then again I'd prefer if criminals like you died in agony."

My... Legs... Oh god, I could see my legs. My muscles and meat was torn up like minced meat and were a mangled almost unrecognisable mess- Oh god, bone, there was broken bone shards and I knew legs don't bend that way, how was I still alive and not screaming for help? There were still bits of metal, in my leg, oh god.

They, there was no way this was allowed to criminals. This was inhumane!

The men laughed, clearly enjoying my rising panic.

"Now let's see... Obstruction of justice, p̸̧̘͔̙̣̦̝̮͍̥̣͕̳̲̟̙͍͟ŗ̴̵͔͖͎͚̹͙̩͉̘̤͝o͍̰̥̝͇̱͞p̦̤͖̯͉̩͚͠e̴̢̙͔̺̩̗͇̤̰͕̻̭͕̖̰̩͉̖͚r̛͠͏͖̗̫̭̖͙̀t͎̘͙͓͎͙̬̻̬̗͎͢͝y̵̧̨̦͕̲̩̙͉͖̰̪̥̪̗̤̜͟͝ ̙̣͈̣̩̪͍̬͕͔̲̖̳̪̗̝͢͝ͅd̩̤̪̫̥̱̠͇̹̤̰̱̹̬̘̝͟a̸̧̢̟̪̼͖͎̣͜m̡̨̞̞̣̣͓̝̫̺̫̮͝ͅͅa͏͔͈̘̘̬̰͈̭̗̝̬͉͓̪g̴̕҉̤̼̳̭͈̫͕̩̘̫̼͇ͅȩ̯͉̬̘̘͇̝̻̞͓̱͢͝ͅ, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons, possession of highly illegal weapons, possession of drugs, ş͕͇̜̻͓͎̣̮̦͇̹̝̦̘̦͔͘e̸҉̪͕̱͓͈̮̖̼͕͍͙̥̼̲̙̯̼͔*͏̷̹̤͉̣̼͍̰͙̭&̡̖͉̩͎͕̳̜̲̗̺̙̜̺̀͜͜)̨͚̥͖͙̹̜́̕͢͠ͅ"̧͍͙̘̺̳̠̠̭̹̗͙́̀ͅͅ+̡͇̰͖̮̰?̖̮̪͕̳̖̬̭͇͚͚̼̭̻̘̱̕ͅ^̸̡̧͔͙̗͎̙̟̱̝̙̥̗͈̥͉̲͇͢͡!̸̲̣̥͖̟̰̲̻̰͕̲̣́̕͜... Illegal prostitution..."

...

He paused for a moment, chuckling as he read the last bit.

"Man slaughter too?"

The dead-eyed man snorted. "Talk about the works! All those crimes, to think one of the perpetrators was a teenager. You seemed to enjoy all of it! Of course, this mainly applies to your leader and judging by your previous wear I would assume you were behind the illegal prostitution. But... Maybe you can save him, or at least, give him an easier time, no?"

...What?

Everything was starting to get hazy.

The dead-eyed man motioned his partner to me, painfully walking slowly towards me he lifted me the scruff of my jacket and forced me onto my front before I heard the jingle of metal and the sound of something clicking off in place. It took me a few seconds to realise he had removed my cuffs.

I was starting to lose focus, I never even noticed the swelling cuff marks on my wrists.

Suddenly, I was really grateful for the morphine, pain killers or whatever through my tears.

"Be careful of his legs." The man warned his partner. He now had a clipboard in hand. He crouched down in front of me, pushing the clipboard to me. "Sign here, it's a confession under your name."

...Dammit, all. If I don't sign I'm just- Guh... I'm just gonna end up even worse.

Keeping my expression still, I merely took the clipboard and pen from him with a wince and looked at the paper. It was a confession paper alright, with a little signature at the bottom that almost seemed to be mocking me as I placed the pen tip against the paper and gasped from another surge of pain, this time from my lower back.

"Hurry it up."

...Asshat.

There was a silent threat in his gaze, one that screamed he was going to end up in an even worse condition if he didn't sign.

...

...

...

Done.

I handed the paper back to him with a leer, causing the man to chuckle as he looked at the paper.

"Haru... Haru Knight?" He scoffed. "I recognise that name, homeless brat in Shibuya."

Fuck... Fuck you.

"Hmm... I've seen you sneaking around the red light district and that... Unsavoury bar in Shinjuku. I know your type and I know exactly how you're going to help save your leader from a much-deserved fate."

* * *

...

_Error._

_Data corrupted._

_Please skip this section._

* * *

"H-Haru-kun? Are you alright?"

"S-Sup!" Pain, oh god everything was in pain! "Nice to see your face, ugh, again!"

"..." Her expression was priceless, how it went from shock to disgust then to surprise. "I never expected you to be with them."

"...Life is a great mystery, no? Full of twists and turns." I coughed. Everything hurt, so, so much. "How you... How you doin' Sae?"

Her face twisted into disgust once more. "They destroyed your legs, drugged and... Sexually assaulted you and you still have the time to be joking around?"

She... She was actually shaking in anger?

Aww, I knew she loved me.

"...Nijima-san. I'm... Really tired. I think I'm going to break. They allow... Treatment like this? To prisoners?"

She must have noticed my face, how afraid I was and how I edge I've been because her face immediately softened into a non-threatening look for my sake.

I... I thanked her silently for that. I wasn't exactly in a good... Mental state right now. I was glad... She wasn't brushing it off like a minor thing.

"No, they don't. You've should have been sent to a hospital and that... Monster should be jailed. However-"

"He's Junochi Kuzama right?" I asked, interrupting her. "He's... A pedophile, he's been viewing rather nasty content and engaging in rather unforgivable acts for years now, destroying the livelihoods of children but no one does anything because he's a rich cunt right? Got connections around him. No one can touch him, so he's allowed to do whatever he wants to his prisoners right?"

"I... How do you know all that?"

"Amazing... Amazing what a little digging in the underground can do." I coughed. "But... Enough about that... I sup-suppose..."

I couldn't speak anymore, everything was sore and my throat was parched. Nijima looked, angry, full on pissed actually. I've never seen the stone cold prosecutor have an expression that could rival Crow's anger when he confessed his feelings.

"...I'll make sure he rots in prison. I can't do anything here and I can't stop them, however. I'll make sure to plant some evidence so he rots forever." She stated coldly, quickly softening again. "But yes, you know what I'm here for. I need you to answer me honestly and too be frank, we don't have much time together. What was your groups objective? Why did your group cause such a major incident?"

"..."

"I didn't think it was a prank from the get-go, however, I couldn't assemble a case for the prosecution. Mainly because... I couldn't figure out the method behind it all."

"...Un...Standable..." I mumbled. "Normal people... Won't..."

"True. There was no way I would be convinced of the existence of such a 'world', however, considering the events and the fact your not exactly a normal human being I needed to know the truth beyond our reports."

Stone hard gaze.

I shrank under it.

"How did you find out about such a world? Where? How is it even possible to steal another's heart? Now... Tell me your account of everything."

...

Heh...

"...April... All started in April... But... Couldn't tell you what... I wasn't..."

"Because you weren't a Phantom Thief then?"

"Yes, but..."

My yellow eyes, with pink heart shapes in my iris, met her crimson ones.

"I wasn't even born back then."

"Born?"

A sigh escaped me. The pain was fading completely away, I could no longer feel my legs.

"I... I am not human. I am a shadow born from the hidden lusts of mankind. I was born in the other world around... The beginning of May I believe."

Curious eyes. She wanted to know more.

"Let me begin... It was around early May then. When I first met my friends and companions, just before the... Madarame incident."

And so... I slowly began to explain everything that has happened to Sae Nijima to the best of my abilities.


	2. Black Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru awakens alongside his absolute confusion. Now? Blissfully unaware of the nightmares he had unleashed on to the world as old faces return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flutter, flutter! Goes the black butterfly as it curses humanity.
> 
> Patter, patter! Goes the blue butterfly as it blesses humanity.
> 
> The red butterfly laughs and flies to nowhere.
> 
> And suddenly little Haru Knight is in blissful hell.

_More data found, commence playback?_

_...Warning, bits of data have been corrupted in the footage. Do you still wish to play? There might be issues with the video playback._

_..._

_Understood, will order a hard reset on extra data in the files._

_..._

_Very well._

_Commencing playback._

_**.** _

_H-o. I - La-. Can you hea- me?_

_..._

_I -..._

_P- if yo- can hea- this._

_Assist... The - Cards..._

_I beg. O- You._

_\- has -._

_\- has no- -tu-._

_I- sorry._

_Good... Luck._

* * *

It... It was warm. So warm. Like I was wrapped up in a blanket.

There was a gentle heartbeat underneath my head.

I recognised it.

"...Mother?"

Nothing came out of my mouth.

Was... Was I home?

Everyone was fine?

I was...

I was glad.

* * *

_Can... Do you feel the shadows? They're not really demons anymore, but they still live in the collective unconscious, no?_

_So young, just like I was._

_It's fine. I will remember soon._

_And I will help you, we ALL will help you._

_So fight for a bit longer, all right?_

* * *

Tokyo was bustling more than usual, even when nighttime hits the city itself never seems to sleep. Someone was always doing something, something was always happening and chatter would always be existing. The night lights were usually bright enough to make the city become a mock day, the skies would always be bright. A city not for those who appreciated the silence and the seclusion.

In Shibuya, something was riling.

The people in Shibuya were completely unaware of the oddities happening around them. They all went by one by one, drunk college students and workers, people desperate to get to one point to the next, politicians giving their speeches, all unknown to the creatures that wanted to escape.

Mementos groaned with eagerness and excitement, a ripple of energy soared throughout Shibuya.

Deep within, a creature ripped through a sheet of darkness and let out a terrifying screech.

And a blue butterfly, crystal-like and proud, rested upon it all.

* * *

"..?!"

Morgana's head shot up from the bag he resided in, prompting the others to look at him, distracted from their food. The cat's ears lifted above his head and listened carefully to the surroundings around him, trying to listen past the murmurs of the crowds of people around him.

He just felt something.

"Hey, Morgana?" Ann asked, mid-bite from her cake with cream cheese. "What's the matter? You have a weird look on your face."

"...Did you guys feel that?"

"Hm? Feel what?"

The cat paused for a moment, listening carefully again. "It felt like... It felt like Zorro was calling me."

"Zorro? Your Persona was calling you?"

"I-I think?" Morgana paused. "I can't feel him now, but it felt like he was trying to tell me something. I've never felt my Persona do that before."

"Huh. Didn't you mention before that a Persona is essentially another you?" Ann asked. "Maybe it's trying to talk to you."

"Maybe, but it felt... I don't know how to describe it."

He felt his Persona get irritated and frightened and for a moment he could have sworn he felt something similar to Mementos or even a Palace surrounding him. It worried him somewhat, what on earth happened?

"...Hey, Morgana?"

"Oh, what is- MMMREOOOWW~"

Akira had picked up a piece of fish with his fingers and didn't waste any time as he plopped it on Morgana's face, startling the cat and caused him to fall back into the bag with fish still on his face. The group chuckled as Morgana tried to fry the fish off his face like it was some wretched thing, moving his entire body to the sides trying to repel the fish.

A group of adults, rich adults that wanted to enjoy their times in the hotel buffet stared at them with disapproving eyes.

Ryuji almost flipped them off.

Almost.

* * *

When someone tells you to go fuck yourself, will you do it?

Oh, a weird question? True!

But would you?

There are multiple ways to do it, the most satisfying way is being flexible enough to blow yourself.

Then again, you really have to have male bits for that... Maybe you can as a girl but I never met a girl who could do that, neither Casca nor... Her?

...

I'm a really bad friend, I can't really remember names.

...

Ah, but you guys probably don't even know my name, my apologies on that part! And to be honest opening with a line like that to complete strangers is very rude and pretty disturbing.

My name is Haru Knight! To give a basic summary, I'm a British lad of Japanese origins, lived in Redditch for most of my life before I started travelling around on my own when I hit... 16? 17? Uh, yeah, I started travelling around the UK around 16 before I came back to my lovely home a few years later. And when I mean lovely? Redditch is a shit hole, never visit I beg of you.

What else... I know how to sew and I'm also a massive whore.

That's all you need to know.

Well, actually, there is ONE thing you guys might like to know. And it's certainly something I would like to know too!

* * *

"WHERE THE FECK AM I?!"

Strange isn't it? One moment you're in bed chilling before you head out for a late night burrito in nothing but a clean bandana you forget to take off then before you know it, boom! Suddenly you wake up in some psychedelic dream realm that looks like a concrete subway dominated by black and red and an air so tense you feel like you're breathing in rough gravel. Basically, ventilation is bad.

So yes, not really my best day.

"Polka? Polka!"

Also? I'm still nude with only my bandana, I'm covered in some form of nasty black sludge that stuck to my skin and stunk like nasty pus and tar combined. It almost made me want to throw up.

So most likely a very weird dream.

Contemplating for a bit, I pinched myself on the cheek.

"Yeowch."

Pain.

So either this was really real, or I'm in a really deep dream.

Hmm... Most likely reality. But maybe this was some sort of lack of sleep dream?

"Maybe I've been transported to a fantasy world? Isekai'd by Truck-kun?"

Very unlikely I had realised, considering I live out in the boonies now with no way for large vehicles to get near like trucks, but it was always good to think a little bit wilder than the norm. It might even be true!

I looked around curiously. On another quick inspection, I seemed to in a miserable looking train stop with tattered windows. There was a train track near it too, however, it looked awfully twisted to the point that there was no way a train could ride those tracks for not even five seconds before detaching and causing mayhem. There was also a strong wind current, with dust and trash flying through like a bird stuck in a hurricane.

It was pretty dark, only lit up by a few lights in the ceiling, which was covered in some really weird black and red gunk which was just... It was nice. Not.

"What even is this gunk?" I couldn't help but ask myself as I wiped off more of the nasty stuff off my form. It wasn't sticky, it just clung to me like a static attracting hair and balloons. "And why is this stuff everywhere?"

I felt dumb, silently hoping someone from the shadows would just pop out and give me an exposition dump. Also, I feel like I should be panicking?

Eh. It'll hit me eventually.

...

"Sh-Should I move somewhere? Find out where I am and stuff?"

Silence answered me.

Personally, I wanted to lie down and chill, but I have no clue where the heck I am and I have no clue if this place is actually safe. Cause we all know ominous subways with strange gunk and howling winds is always the most safest of places.

"And besides!"

In both directions led to a pitch-black tunnel and a rundown escalator, one looked like it led to a higher level and the other vice versa. However unlike the lower level which would lead to even less hopeful darkness-

"SOMEONE SAVE ME!"

"HELP US."

"PLEASE!"

"There's also people screaming and crying in that direction!" I snickered to myself as it the tormented screams of people were suddenly cut off by a loud gust of howling wind. It wasn't my problem! Besides, I could probably get the police or something later to tell them of the demented torture dungeon they have down here.

Was I being needlessly cruel? Yes. However, see this from my point of view for a moment if you would. You're in some random haunted subway that looks like no one has touched in a century, wearing nothing but a bandana that's currently covering your junk and you hear terrified screams in one direction, what are you gonna do? Be a hero and venture into the depths before running into a cannibalistic tribe? Find some sadistic fire demon? Find a massive tentacle monster from someones forgotten hentai collection? Preferable I would prefer the last option, but still!

You have to ignore them.

Move on and live, get help when you can.

Who cares if you want to save them now, be a hero later when you have help, don't be a nobody and possibly be the last person to know of these poor souls existence before dying a horrible death or getting lost.

That's how I usually run and it's helped me. Does it sound heartless? Perhaps. Do I actually care? No.

Plus! There was something very, very angry down there that let out such a loud and nasty screech I thought my ears would explode.

So. I'm just gonna leave them. For now at the very least.

...

But... This wind's been blowing so harshly for a good while now. Is it extra windy today?

"Maybe I'm close to the surface? No way a wind this strong is coming from some dusty old vents."

I was a bit hesitant to leave, I didn't really feel like potentially scaring some poor soul to death with my mostly nude form. But if I stayed down here then everyone could see my mostly nude DEAD form and I certainly didn't want that.

Man, life was starting to get really funky-

_"For a mere piece of the human unconscious, your brain really is full of mindless words."_

...Eh?

O-Okay, that did make me jump a bit not gonna lie there. That was weird, now I'm starting to hear weird, imaginary voices. It wasn't from anywhere outside, like it was all inside of-

"Was it really that burrito I had? It still tasted fine."

_"I can assure you, I am no mere hallucination created by a food item. I reside in your mind."_

"Yeah, my mistake, clearly your too snarky to be a hallucination from a bloody burrito." I almost wanted to roll my eyes. The voice was older and more masculine, so I would assume it was a dude. "Let me guess, you're a god or whatever who brought me here to serve you, defeat the demon lord or whatever?"

_"...You appear to be well adaptive to your situation, how are you not panicking?"_

"Burrito."

Correction, I'm usually good in stressful situations but the mystery voice is right and I should actually be panicking right now. Maybe my brain was extra slow today? Who knows! Who cares!

_"I-I see. No, I did not bring you here, you were born into this world as a piece of human thought, a fragment of the human soul, a shadow."_

"Ah, so like... Ah, what's the bloke's name...? Carl Jung? Theory on the human collective and personal unconscious? That type of stuff?"

Thank you random articles online, I appreciate your knowledge for this one moment in my entire life where I will use you.

The voice seemed pleased.

_"Yes, humanities singular perceptions on others and how it affects the populous's thought. You were fragments pulled into one being, a shadow created by everyone's unconscious."_

...Wait a second.

"But I'm human."

_"Because their minds perceived you as-"_

"No, let me finish. Before I found myself in this hell hole, I was at home, minding my own business and getting a cold burrito cause god damn I was hungry. I have no clue where I am, I still remember all of the memories of my life and I know full well I'm not some shadow of someone's dusty old noggin."

The voice was silent for a moment, thinking. Meanwhile, I was already heading to the upper floor ready to be done with this bullshit. That was when I saw there was a sign with letters on there? It wasn't in English, which really didn't bother me since I'm used to seeing none English signs, but apparently, it's even worse.

It was Japanese, something I could thankfully read to an extent, however, I couldn't really comprehend what it said.

What did it say you may ask?

_Shibuya Subway._

...

Oh no, is my Japanese slightly rusty and that's actually a mistranslation on my part? There was no way this was actually Shibuya.

The voice laughed.  _"This is Mementos, your birthplace and Tokyo's collective subconscious."_

"T-Tokyo?!" I spluttered and almost choked. Yeah, this was definitely a dream, no way I woke up in Tokyo. I was in England, ENGLAND! Was I in a coma and kidnapped? Was I transported here? "Why am I here?"

The voice laughed again. The world around me seemed to have shifted, the atmosphere felt suddenly lighter.

"Asshat. I've asked you a question here."

_"Which I have already answered."_ It replied smugly.  _"I will not repeat myself again, not when we have to leave."_

"We?"

Asshat isn't coming with me, disembodied voice or not.

_"As it pains me to admit it, my remnants was caught by Mementos and fused into you, I cannot move on my own, I am merely a piece of your mind."_

Well, fuck me then. I still think and hope that this is a dream, so might as well play along. But if this was actually reality I swear. "...Please, don't talk much then." I didn't want to deal with even more hallucinations, visual ones were bad enough when I was ill and I'm already tired of listening to Polka's ramblings. "So if we go through here, we can get out?"

_"Indeed. Mementos is a maze that always changes, however, there is always an exit. I will guide you out, follow me."_

"Eh? How am I gonna follow you when- Oh?"

Out from the darkness suddenly materialised a large black butterfly that looked like its wings were made from crystals that glowed faintly within the dark. With each flap of its wings, a cloud of red dust would seem to disperse. The butterfly, seemingly noticing my awestruck amazement landed on my nose and spread out its wing's, covering my sight.

It was so pretty. I've never seen a species of butterfly like this before!

And it's so soft on my nose!

"Is- Is this you?" I couldn't help but ask.

_"Correct. I may be trapped in your mind, however, I can still manifest myself as a butterfly to guide you."_ The butterfly fell off of my nose and began to flutter away.  _"Do be careful and follow me, if you die, I will too."_

That's rough buddy.

"A-Alright then." This night was really strange, dream or no dream apparently it was gonna be absolutely freaky. "Lead the way butterfly man."

* * *

So... We've been wandering the place for about an hour now and I've learned that this Mementos place... Thing, or whatever it was, is absolutely insane and clearly something that isn't natural.

Honestly, it looked like the subway was taken over by some sort of evil spirit, or that virus thing from that Prototype game in some places. There was just more of the black sludge everywhere that became some sort of vine material in some area's that tied metal poles and signs together like they were made of wet tofu. The air was also much lighter than the room I was in before, it no longer felt like coarse gravel in gas form.

The railways were... Normal, but some broke part way through and the walls were rusted, covered in the same junk and looked like someone threw a sledgehammer at it. And right now I was following the hallucination butterfly through one of the maze-like pathways that littered the area. Twisted and warped, like some nightmare I was stuck in. I saw one red and black vortex in one area where the train tracks would swerve into it before eroding away. The vortex things gave me weird feelings, I could feel some sort of... Desire? Yes, I could feel desire emanating from the vortex that tried to draw me in.

I had ignored it, but only barely.

I did also notice... Things, wandering the area. I could never see them properly, big, black lumbering masses of shadow easily three times my size.

Very spooky.

Also, none of them seemed to have cared that I was here.

One spotted me earlier, one that glowed red like it was super powered but didn't seem to care about my existence and just walked away.

It was... It was actually starting to get a bit scary now.

My back, my back was also incredibly itchy ever since I left that rest area and no matter how hard I scratched the itch never resided.

_"The shadows do not care for another such as you."_ The butterfly snapped at me when I asked about it.  _"You are beings of the darkest and most unforgiving of the human mind, mainly negative emotions which you all feed upon."_

"I see." I had to play along right now. Dream or no dream, I'm getting somewhat freaked out. "And what would you be?"

_"..."_

The butterfly stopped in its tracks. It fell to the ground before suddenly dispersing into nothing. I pouted a bit, asshole left before he could even answer my questions!

"Asshat! What's going on?"

The butterfly man didn't respond.

I was now all alone.

Great, this was fucking perfect! Now how on earth was I gonna get out of here? Should I pick a direction and hope for the best that it leads me out of this hell hole? Those weird lumbering giants didn't seem interested in me, but there could be an odd duck in there that thinks I'm a nice meaty snack! And what if there are more frightening monsters here?

"G-Gah, ahhh..."

Shit, my heart is going crazy right now I can practically feel it thudding against my chest like a hammer. I really don't want to go and have a panic attack like this, not right now!

Calm down, calm down!

What was going on?!

Has the situation finally hit me yet?

What was I gonna do-

"Hey man! Knock it off!"

A loud slap followed by a pain filled screech that sounded like a mix of a man and demented eagle from behind snapped me from my hammering heart and suddenly the rising terror had disappeared from my mind. My heart no longer hammered, my mind felt at ease, I no longer felt afraid. I could feel a cold sweat around my body and for a moment my brain felt like it wanted to shut down.

The flap of a pair of wings got my attention.

"Hey dude, I'm sorry about that. My buddy here gets a bit trigger happy with Fear Touch." I heard a nervous chuckle followed shortly after. "You alright man?"

"F-Fear Touch?" I gasped, still reeling somewhat from the fear that suddenly disappeared. I wanted to see who did that to me, who-

"Wh-What?"

What on earth was I looking at?

I... I was looking at a demon, a pink imp-like creature with bat wings and a devil's tail cursing at another imp-like creature of the ground. Its face was strangely worried yet didn't truly sell me on its emotions due to the almost permanent contorted (is that the word I'm looking for?) look it had. Sharp talons on its hands and feet and-

O-Oh my...

My- My... I was feeling suddenly flustered when I noticed the rather obvious, ahem, curved scimitar he had between its legs. I was overcome by a new urge to cover myself and hope to whatever God out there that the demon imp thing doesn't notice any rising on my part. My face was starting to feel suddenly warm and for all of the... Impure reasons.

Control was the one thing I was never good at... Sometimes.

"Dude?" The imp looked at me worried. "You alright?"

Ah!

"H-Hello." Oh god, my voice cracked. I coughed again before continuing. "Hello, it's nice to m-meet you despite the... The thing your friend did. Who might you g-guys be?"

The imp suddenly had a nasty grin of his face, beating his fist against his chest as if full of pride, his hips thrusting his  _sword_ forward. "The name's Incubus, I'm a shadow just like you! Although I've never seen one like you before, not even the human shadows have the same eyes as you, those sweet tats on your back or have the same lack of clothes as you, but that's cool! We all have different ways of enjoyment, I won't judge!"

What was he talking about? I don't have tattoos? And I'm not a nudist on purpose!

"The- The same eyes?"

"Oh you know~" The other imp on the ground called out cheerfully, sending a playful wink despite his position. "You have the same yellow eyes of course, but you have cute little pink hearts in your iris's!"

"I-I do?"

Both imps stared at each other for a moment, slight confusion in their expression before realisation swiftly punched them in the face. "Oh!" The first one, Incubus, gasped. "You're about to become a Palace Ruler? Dude, that's swell!"

"Yeah! When that Palace of yours comes to be, could you possibly recruit us?"

"You dumbass! You placed Fear on him and now you expect him to recruit us? Dumbass!"

"I'm the dumbass?!"

"Yes!"

Palace ruler? What? I don't... I had no clue what on earth they were bickering on about. But I think I should... Yeah, I should play along.

"Yeah, the Palace is currently under construction but it should be done relatively soon, haha..." I couldn't stop the nervous smile, that was impossible at this point. The two imps chuckled at my response and suddenly I had an idea. "Um... Actually, if you do me a favour, I'll make sure you two are the first to be recruited for the Palace."

"Oh?" Incubus tilted his head, suddenly interested. "You will?"

"Thanks, man, we really appreciate it! What's the favour?"

Oh, thank god that was easy so far. Honestly, I wasn't even expecting these guys to be so chill and friendly with a stranger when one of which tried to give me a heart attack.

"Well, you see." I began, trying to rack my brain for a story. "I'm looking for a way out you see, I wanted some fresh air before the Palace comes here you know? But I'm afraid I'm sorta lost. Could you help me with that?"

"A... Way out?"

Oh no. I fucked up, I did not like that suspicious tone in his voice.

"Why would you need a way out? Unless..."

_Smack!_

"Dumbass! He's quite obviously trying to get some good old energy in his system in the outside! He needs the good old personal energy, not the collective one!"

"Oh, yeah, of course!"

"Plus who knows? There might be some hot babes out of Mementos!"

"Oh~ Sounds neat." The other imp looked at me with interest. "You want to find some hot babes?"

I... What?

"I-I don't really-"

"Oh, you prefer dudes? Do you swing both ways? More power to you then!"

Where was this conversation going? Off rail that was for certain! I mean, I do appreciate hotties but-

Off topic! Off topic! Calm down me.

"My- my preferences don't really matter right now!" I almost screamed. "Any- Anyway, can you please help me?"

The imps looked at each other, considering. The Incubus looked at me with caution, a strange look in his eyes. "Yeah, we can. But, can I ask a quick favour? It won't take us too long I promise." The demon coughed nervously. "You see. Me and my bud here were separated from our group not too long ago. There was a rather mad Archangel who... Well, let's just say he didn't appreciate our sinful presence."

An... Wait, an Archangel? Like, actual angel?

Shit.

"Oh yeah, that guy's a dick." The other nodded. "Honestly, he's a big old tough bastard and we understand if you don't wanna waste your time. We'll still get you out regardless but..."

"We wanna meet with our group man."

I could feel myself feel sorry for these guys.

_"Do you actually feel sorry for these old pathetic things?"_

Oh, lucky me. Butterfly man was back. And to answer your question, yes, I feel sorry for these guys however I can't help them at all cause... Y'know? I'm a measly human against a big old feckin' Archangel? If you think I can do anything then your havin' a laugh.

_"You are Shadow."_ The voice corrected sharply. "You can use skills like any other Shadow.  _And I can assure you an Archangel is nothing against me, even with your body."_

Shadow, human, you still admitted I'm weak! How can I use these so-called skills anyway?

A beat.

_"Eiga."_

...What-ga?

Another beat, this time longer.

I swear if-

A chill.

"..?!"

I couldn't help the terrified gasp that left my mouth as my hairs stood on end. I could feel, I could feel something large nearby, a presence that demanded respect for its status, its almighty power. I had absolutely no clue what it was but I knew it was something deadly.

"H-Hey man?" Incubus looked at me with worried caution, moving backwards in fright like he was moving away from a savage beast. "Are you alright?"

"Behind you." My voice came out as a snarl, something that worried me. "There's something behind you!"

"Behind?"

**"Hama."**

A bright light followed by a swarm of white tags enveloped the second Incubus, the demon had no chance to properly respond and for me to properly register before the tags stopped shifted around him before the light dispersed as the demon was instantly vapourised with a scream and sending me backwards onto the floor in fright. The first Incubus screamed too, but his was more of a despairful screech if anything.

What on- What the fuck?! Where the fuck did he come from?!

I could feel fear once more, true, actual fear. I felt almost petrified, like a shivering statue about to crumble.

He just-just-just... He's gone!

**"I thought I saw more of your ilk here."** A stern voice called out from the shadows, a pair of green eyes gleamed at us and a sheen of silver shimmered in the faint light.  **"You will never run from the will of God."**

The being was certainly an angel when it glided out from the shadows, one with red wings at that. The angel was wearing very old looking knight armour and wielded a large steel sword in one hand that looked like it would slice me clean in two. I just barely noticed the shield on it's back as well, however, I highly doubted it actually needed a shield.

Incubus flew behind me in panic, hoping that either I was a decent enough meatshield or I would fight it off.

Screw that noise! I'm not fighting a flipping angel! I'm bucking it out of here before it's attention falls on me-

**"And what do we have here?"**

Annnnd his attention fell on me. Lovely! Fucking great!

I cautiously began to push myself backwards, ignoring the fearful protests of the Incubus who was desperately trying to push me back forward to no avail.

**"Another sinner who dares defy the will of God? Does thou not feel shame at such indecency?"**

"H-Hey!" I squeaked out. "I just woke up nude! Like a baby! I'm trying to find some clothes!"

**"Do not spill such lies from thy mouth!"** It snapped. Clearly, he wasn't in the mood for casual talk.  **"A liar and sinner such as you deserve holy execution from my blade and magic. Fall down and die peacefully or resist and perish in agony."**

N-None of those were good choices!

"Get away from us you monster!" The Incubus screeched. "We haven't done a thing!"

**"Oh, but you have, demon! I have already hunted your pack into nothingness, no more of your group exists and I will assure you, you will die alone and afraid."**

"You... You killed... No- Everyone!"

I could feel a bubbling rage from the imp behind me, pathetic as it was. However, they both knew that he couldn't do a thing.

**"Now join the rest of your ilk and be purged by the holy light! Hama!"**

Bright light erupted underneath us, I immediately grabbed the shocked Incubus and ran out of the light before the spell could actually finish and kill us. However, that seemed to have pissed off the asshole angel even more!

**"So you wish to fight an angel of God?"** He questioned and raised his sword in the air.  **"Very well, know that you will suffer a painful demise!"**

Shit!

Think for a moment me! I can't outrun this fucker not when he can cast long range spells. It means I'll have to fend him off somehow, but that was the problem! How was I going to fight off an angel?! One with a sharp stick and magic that disintegrates people?!

"B-Boss?"

Boss? Was the Incubus referring to me?

The imp looked up at me with worried eyes, eyes full of hope that I would destroy the angel in front of me and save him from a horrible fate, something I wouldn't be able to do because, well...

"W-What's the plan?"

I'm... I'm-

_"You are a Shadow."_

Oh, right, I'm a Shadow apparently, which means jack all when-

Wait for a second, I can use skills, right? Which one did you say I could use?

**"Now be sent to the hole from whence thou came!"**  It pointed its sword into the air.  **"Charge-"**

_Click!_

"Eiga!"

I wasn't sure why I was suddenly overcome by the overwhelming urge to click my fingers like I was listening to a funky musical number, but when I did I almost scared myself stupid because from my fingertips came out a large energy force of black, white and reds that suddenly surrounded the surprised angel before descending down upon him. And whatever it did, it worked!

The angel screamed before being knocked down to the ground in a pained daze as the force ripped through him, cuts and bruised covered its skin and the same gunk from this place, Mementos, was pouring from his wounds like blood. Archangel tried to fly back up, however judging by the condition of his wings that shouldn't be twisted like that.

Yeah, no, he couldn't move.

Huh.

I looked at Incubus, not bothering to hide my surprise from my face. "That... Was easy?"

That had to be like, a boss fight right? No second phase?

"Woah~" Meanwhile his eyes glittered as he oh'd and awe'd like he was witnessing something absolutely amazing, like a child easily amused by a browning leaf. I mean, I did kinda down an angel by just clicking my fingers but still. "Boss! You gotta show me how to do that!"

"You're... Calling me boss a little too quickly, no?"

"No! You're the boss now!" Incubus slapped his fist into an open hand eagerly. "I gotta learn how to do amazing tricks like you! I mean- You just knocked down an Archangel and broke its wings! You're an inspiration to us little guys!"

"O-Oh. Why thank you!"

And just as I tried to hide my blushing face.

**"CLEAVE!"**

I heard the angel scream and by that point? It was too late for me.

I felt it.

I felt the blade slice through my back like butter.

I felt the searing pain course and shake my body like a ragdoll.

I saw the look of empty shock on Incubus's face and through his eyes, I saw the satisfied and twisted smile of the Archangel as he drew his bloody sword.

No dream.

This was reality.

This was actually real.

For a moment, I wanted to scream.

For a moment, I was sure I was going to die.

But, just as the pain had destroyed me.

**"W-What?!"**

It felt like I was never hurt in the first place.

...What?

**"What is the meaning of this?!"**

I turned my head over my shoulder and I saw a black smog had erupted from my now hot back where the blade cut through me and in that smog, a silhouette of a clawed hand had grabbed the sword without much effort, holding the angel in place.

"Woah~"

Woah indeed, what-

_"You were a fool."_

His voice rang out again, clearly annoyed yet I could detect a humorous tone.  _"Never turn your back on a fool such as this, especially when they still have the upper hand. His sword, his expel skills and the rage when you ignored him after humiliating him. You were supposed to be a mindless shadow, a husk I can invade, however, it appears your sudden appearance has trapped me in a prison I can't escape, human."_

Thousands of hidden eyes fell on me.

Suddenly, I felt alone and deathly cold.

_"Whether you are an agent of Philemon or a fool who was caught in the game's web, it doesn't matter in the end."_ It continued.  _"However, you will die if you do not awaken me and destroy this shadow. Time will reset and you will be killed along with me, something I have no intention of happening. Which is why-"_

**_Badump!_ **

**_Badump!_ **

"Guh!"

Something had broke inside my mind, causing the iron dams to spill into my brain and send everything into an electrifying frenzy of pain. The scream that erupted from me was one of pain, sheer utter pain that the sword could only wish it could ever do.

A thousand needles pierced the shell of my brain. Slowly pushed in by a tormented hand.

_"I am thou."_

Holding my head did nothing.

_"Thou art I."_

Hitting my body did nothing.

_"Thy heart that contains the hatred and pain of a thousand suns, containing the anger, not even the Gods can quell."_

Clawing at the ground never distracted the pain.

My face was on fire.

_"Never lose sight of thy anger and thou shalt possess thine strength!"_

There was a flash of light.

A black mask, shaped like two crescent moons intersecting at the bottom and a full moon at the centre.

Remove it.

I had to remove it.

The angel looked at me, frightened as the arm threw the blade away which shattered on impact against a wall. I was aware of the grin on my face, a grin without eyes. i pushed my fingers under the mask and tugged on it lightly before-

**"No... It can't be!"**

I ripped the mask off completely.

Blue fires engulfed my body and my surroundings in a flurry, I could barely hear Incubus's surprised yell as he was pushed back by the blast, I barely acknowledged the Archangels panic as disturbed laughter rose above me.

What was above me, you may ask?

It was the butterfly man's true form of course.

A body of black and white. A lanky and bony figure with twist limbs that bent in impossible places and fingers that were clawed and curled at different lengths and a large spear with a kite-shaped spearhead embedded within a leaking red and yellow heart. Strange hollow spots were plastered at his sides, a pair of sharp angel wings erupted from his back while a much smaller pair of much softer devil wings came from his heels. On its face, a disturbed red-eye looked on while the other had a four-pointed star take its place.

The creature laughed joyfully.

And I felt much happier.

"Come to me, Nyarlathotep!"

My emotions came pouring out, overwhelmed by lustful desire.

Nyarlathotep threw his arm forward, unleashing a blast of air that knocked the Archangel back into a wall, the force kicking debris and metal railings off the ground as if it was paper.

_**"Hmm... I see... This is the form I have taken?"**_ Nyarlathotep questioned.  ** _"How very similar to my weakest form. A Shadow with a human ego is a rare sight indeed. But enough of that... I am the Persona Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos that resides in your heart."_**

**"N- Master Nyarlathotep?!"**

The look of fright on the angel's face was so delectable as he trembled. I could feel Incubus still watch on with excitement from behind, amazed.

**"This- This is impossible! You-"**

_**"I, have returned!"**_ The Persona interrupted with a roar.  ** _"The game has continued Philemon! You will need to find new chess pieces soon if you desire to stop me again, for I have a new pawn up my sleeve now!"_**

Wow! That totally didn't sound menacing and not evil at all!

"I... I have absolutely no clue what you're on about buddy!" I called out to him. "But would you mind doing the honours?"

_**"Very well! Now, fall down and beg! Megido!"** _

Something inside of my mind twitched and throbbed like I was being mentally drained within seconds to the point I was feeling mentally exhausted. I felt like my inner core was on fire as if something was purposely riling me up.

Bright blue lights consumed the angel, there was no scream, no horrified retort nothing as the angel vapourised into nothing, not even the black sludge remained. It was like the angel was completely erased from existence.

I was impressed, sure this was obviously overpowered considering that was currently a boss mob. But I could do this now too?

_**"Indeed. When I have fully awakened, know that you have access to the entirety of my power. Use it to destroy those who disobey, meld those into obedient sheep, consume everything in chaos!"** _

I see. I see!

For a moment, I felt calm, like nothing in the world could touch me. A feeling that I loved, because I knew no one could hurt me again.

"Sounds great! But can this almighty power take us out of here?"

**_"A foolish question. I will take us to the entrance of Mementos and I will grant you the power to go back to your reality. However, know this, when the time comes, your fate will come at a standpoint."_ **

Another beat.

"Wait, what?"

_**"Something, someone had made you into a shadow, someone had purposely used you to trap me inside of your conscious. Even now I still can't escape, however, I can foresee that in the future, there will be a point where your choices that you will make will decide whether you live or you die. If you die, I will no longer exist."** _

...Y'know I'm starting to think my own Persona don't care about me. Clearly, he only cares about my safety because he's directly connected to me. Otherwise, he'd snap me from existence like a meagre fly.

And if we are going to the exit, might as well ask for company.

"Hey, buddy?"

The Incubus looked at me even now, the fascination in his eyes vanished and was quickly drawn to my voice.

"So, uh. I'm really sorry about your group, it seems like they were all wiped out by that angel." I awkwardly started. Damn me. "But, my offer still stands? You wanna, come with?"

Man, Haru, really nailing it in there you asshole.

Jeez, I really gotta work on my sympathy/empathy skills again. It's felt like a year since I last communicated with anyone.

Plus, something in the fight has set off my urges and I hope that the Incubus doesn't mind me satisfying said urges at a later date. Hopefully, that you-know-what between his legs was actually real and not a sick hallucination.

But he was hesitating! That wasn't a good sign!

"B-Boss." He started, twiddling his thumbs. "Can I... Come with you another time? I feel like I need to mourn a bit first, y'know?" He sounded so upset. "So I'll be hanging around here for a bit, but! I'll be hanging around the first floors! So if you decide to come here again, I'll be one of the first shadows you see!"

...If you could feel my disappointment then you should see the despair on my face.

But, I understand completely.

"That's fine!" I shot him a grin. "Take your time! I need to look around the outside world anyway for a bit so I'll be taking some time anyway."

"Thank you, boss!"

Though, I might come back to this place sooner rather than later.

Nyarlathotep scoffed above me, clearly impatient.

"Alright bossy! I'm ready to go now!"

_**"Very well, farewell, I will always be by your side, Haru Knight."** _

And thus, the world around me had faded and reality started to morph in existence.

* * *

"Kashihara-san? What's the matter, did you see something?"

...

"No, my apologies Kawakami-chan, I thought I felt something strange. It must have been my imagination."

Kawakami looked at him strangely, however, she shrugged him off and patiently waited for the principle to return.

Jun Kashihara stared out from the windows, holding the flower in his hand delicately. He could have sworn he felt something... Ominous, like the feeling one would have about someone talking bad about another behind their back.

It must have been his imagination but... Something didn't feel right.

He watched a blue butterfly flutter around outside in the spring wind and suddenly he felt nauseous.

'Shujin Academy. I wonder how everything will go this year."'

* * *

_Ugh, that explanation hurt my head. If just explaining my birth took this much out of me, god forbid the state of future me. I can't even remember what's happened that well and I didn't want to explain to Sae that it was impossible for me to have a perfect memory on the day of my birth._

_But... I think that was the jist._

_"So, you were born a Shadow, a Shadow created by the forbidden and cast away desires of the residents of Tokyo?" Sae had a hard time believing me. "And an eldritch god had taken residence inside of you and is now your... Persona."_

_"Correction... I am a personification of... EVERY, single person in Tokyo's hidden away and sexually deprived lusts, where did you think... I got... My, gah... Horniness from? The supermarket? Plus, we're chill now..."_

_"...Please, continue with the story."_

_I was already giving her a headache? Good._

_Now she can feel my pain._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buh, second chapter baby!
> 
> The Crawling Chaos greets you... Good day!
> 
> So yeah, surprise surprise, its Nyarly! He's back and has an itch only revenge can fix. Or something like that, I dunno.
> 
> Anyway~ Yes, everything will be explained in due time. Why the hecc Nyarly was there, what exactly is going on with Haru and when the showdown between Haru Knight and Haru Okumura will start. The next chapter should, in theory, be out this week, hopefully.
> 
> And I greet you... Good night!
> 
> Have a good day/night you all!
> 
> EDIT: Chapter has been updated slightly. Made a correction.


	3. Shibuya Arts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru gets slightly stuck, realises he forgot his meds, meets eccentric weirdo and deals with a slight issue.
> 
> Oh, he also thinks that the same weirdo is in a very nasty household right now and decides to try and help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A more chill chapter today. I'm almost done with college and I'm dealing with other problems right now, so I apologise for the quick and lacklustre jerkin' scene below.
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Also pls: Haru does NOT represent my thoughts on anything, so if Haru says anything deemed problematic, don't accuse me of enjoying said stuff. Thank you.

**Welcome to Tokyo! Please enjoy your stay.**

_**.** _

_Majority of data has been salvaged. Next recordings will be safe from corruption._

_However, please note that the last set of recordings before 20/11/20XX will still have been edited due to damaged data._

_Please bear in mind about the potential damage of this recording._

_Will you still commence playback?_

_..._

_Very well._

_Commencing playback._

_**.** _

_"...This story sounds absolutely ridiculous." Sae said finally after taking a moment to process the events of my birth. "I understand what you are saying, however, such an outlandish lie won't hold up in court nor with me. How would one react so calmly to a situation as that? What does Kashihara-san have to do with this?"_

_"You're... Gonna have to believe me." I gasped, ragged. "It's... Really hard to remember every little fucking detail. And honestly, it's under-fucking-standable that you wouldn't believe me. But... Would you doubt me? After everything you've seen?"_

_I pushed my arm out to her, causing her confusion to be more apparent before the delightful expression of surprise replaced the confusion as my arm dissolved into the thick sludge I ever so fondly (sarcasm included) remembered. It dripped onto the table into thick puddles before dispersing into a red mist._

_"W-What?"_

_"Even for... Even for a Shadow or even a Shadow self with the ego to summon a Persona, I'm an odd case. My existence is unique as a Half-Shadow yet shouldn't be able to survive, so Nyarly keeps my brain mentally sane." I continued. My arm took seconds to reform back to normal, however, it was still horribly bruised from the beatings and the... The treatment I had received. "And Kashihara... And Jun! He's an odd case too, but I su- Suppose... That you have an idea?"_

_"O-Odd case?" She repeated to herself. "Are you referring to the-"_

_"Anyway..." Cough, cough. "You'll know what I know in due time... I suppose you wanna know what happens?"_

_"Please do. I... I need to know."_

_"...So. I was taken out of Mementos, kinda, there was a slight issue but I did end up in Shibuya in the end." I sighed. "F-Forgive me if I skip on the details, Sae." Her eyes met his at the use of her given name, without honorifics. "But like I mentioned. I can't remember things too well, so maybe you can help piece things for me?"_

_"Of course." Sae sorted through her notes, pausing before she pulled out a file and pushed it towards me. On the file was the face of an older man with greying hair and I instantly recognised that ugly mug from anywhere. She seemed to have noticed the expression on my face. "You know who this is then?"_

_"Ichiryusai Madarame..." Pushing the face of the image down before twisting it with a snarl. "A so-called master of Japanese arts. A terrible man for putting his students through horrible things."_

_"Besides the blackmails, plagiarism and abuse, he committed crimes very much like Kamoshida. You knew one of his students correct?"_

_"Y-Yes. It was a miracle I found him so early. P-Poor thing, but Madarame couldn't truly let him die, n-not when he was so valuable."_

_..._

_"Alright then. I'll begin then. From when I first met Yusuke Kitagawa to- to... To when Madarame confessed his sins to the world on the... 5th of June? Yeah. 5/6..."_

* * *

"Is- Is this... Shibuya?"

A warm feeling began to form in my stomach.

I recognised the place from the images only and briefly from my own memories as a young child. All that surrounded me was terrifyingly large skyscrapers of metal and glass, buildings of commercial and entertainment. I must have been in one of the Shibuya streets or something, but if that was the case.

Where is everyone?

Shibuya, no, correction the entirety of Tokyo was always filled with people no matter the day or the time of said day, even on the busiest of days there was always at least a dozen people.

But no.

There was no one here. Eerily silent.

Not even my dearest Polko wanted to say hello. They haven't since I first woke up which was rather... Peculiar. Asshole always wanted to say hello.

"H-Hello?" I called out, somewhat nervous from the dead silence. There were no signs of rats or cats or feral pigeons. It was like no life ever existed like it was all wiped from existence.

I thought I was going insane, but then I noticed something about the atmosphere. I thought it would be the normal real-world atmosphere I loved so much but... What was going on?

_"Fool. Have you not noticed yet?"_

Nyarlathotep's voice scared the living shit out of me, making me jump and almost slip on the ground. I hissed as my toenail grazed against the floor, causing me to realise that- Oh! I'm still as nude as a baby! Thankfully, it isn't that cold out cause I would have noticed earlier!

"What? My never-ending nudity?"

A beat. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's rather peeved right now.

_"Take a close look of the area around you."_ Nyarlathotep's voice ordered and it took me a good second to realise what he was referring to. How did I not notice this is something that will baffle me forever.

The area seemed... Dead. Like, the colour had been drained away. And it felt like I was... Floating on air? It really wasn't something I could properly describe.

"Are we still stuck in that place? Memetos?"

" _Mementos."_ He corrected.  _"It would seem that my powers have been neutralised somewhat due to my imprisonment."_

Well. Fuck.

"So... We're stuck?" A basic conclusion me, 10/10.

_"No. I merely have to wait until my power returns. I could teleport us out of the inner realms of Mementos, however, it seems I need to recharge before we can exit the realm of Mementos itself. Or... You can get us out of Mementos."_

"And, if I can, how do I do that?"

_"Simple. Find a weak spot."_

...Huh, that was truly enlightening. Yes, the weak spot. What is the weak spot and what does it look like? Who knows! And, AND! Before any of that junk!

"Questions before I do this?" He didn't even get to answer before I continued. "If I find this weak spot, will I go straight to the real world?"

_"Correct. Is there a problem with this?"_

I motioned to the entirety of my nude body, multiple times, clearly trying to show what the problem was. Clearly, if I suddenly pop up in the middle of Shibuya, or hell, most populated places on planet earth, quite obviously I'm gonna get a few weird looks and people recording me at best and jail at second worse for violating the peace and being very, VERY indecent in public.

Continuing to motion to my body, it took him a moment but after that Nyarlathotep merely sighed as if it wasn't his problem and I was about to explain to the eldritch abomination that how much of a problem it was going nude in public was before, suddenly-

Warm.

An overwhelming warm sensation encased my body, briefly surrounded in black and red flames and blinding me before dispersing into nothingness. Disappearing as quickly as it came.

For a second I was confused, but then I noticed fabric that wasn't there before on my arms then quickly realised what had happened.

"...You know I didn't realise that, spontaneously spawning clothes was also apart of your power line up."

Giving myself a quick look over I decided that I looked rather... Fancy overall. Butler like actually with a mostly dark colour palette. I wore a thin, dark grey fashion coat over a white t-shirt with a black collar and a golden edge. I had a breast pocket on my right with the design of a single gold, black and red butterfly, making me realise that I had been seeing a lot of butterfly motifs lately. A brown belt with a silver buckle and golden plate underneath clung around my waist that caused creases on the otherwise neatly suited coat. There was something that looked like a small cravat that hung from my collar and a smooth, circular green gem just above it.

A pair of decently tight grey pants that was somewhat loose around my legs and tight around my thighs, the worse being around my ass to the point I thought someone vacuum packed it and that if I stretched too much I would risk ripping. Just below that, fancy black leather shoes that reflected the little light there was. And the bandana I wore previously was now tied around my right thigh.

Oh!

And on my face! A pair of red-framed glasses! I can actually see now! Perfect!

I looked like a fancy, non-blind motherfucker basically.

A rich asshole.

...

Huh, now I really hope I don't get mugged on the street or something.

You never really wear rich clothes back in Redditch unless you're asking for a knife between the ribs, or a fucking tattoo needle if the assailant is feeling extra saucy. If you live? Pfft, that knife in your ribcage will send you to jail since you are in possession of a weapon. That's one of the reasons why I lived far away from society with my group of buddies.

America and shitty gun laws? Our weapon laws will ask to grab their beer before backflipping off to oblivion.

Well... Maybe I would get a weird look and that's it? Hopefully? No?

_"I am a powerful being capable of many things. Creating mere fabrics is nothing."_

"...But you can't escape from someone's body? What a shitty hallucination you are."

_"Do you still believe that I am a fabric of your imagination?"_

Irritation.

"Honestly, no. Up until that Archangel, I thought this was a dream. But... Yeah, that sword told me otherwise."

Quite honestly I wasn't sure why I haven't started bawling on the ground yet from such an overwhelming situation. Maybe deep down, my brain still registered everything as a dream, a massive hallucination.

"But it's funny hearing you get so annoyed at it."

There were a phone and leather wallet in my breast pocket and upon opening it I was greeted by multiple yen notes and coins that almost spilt onto the floor. After fixing the coins back in I had started to count, whistling when I saw the amount of money I had in total.

"50,000 Yen?"

That was a pretty decent amount, around £300 I believe? I was guessing that was also his doing.

Then I checked the phone. It was a basic iPhone, nothing too special. There was a messaging app and that was it, however, it did tell me the time. And that... Was 5th of May? 22:39...

Pretty late... Nothing wrong with the date. Before I woke up it was the 4th around night, so from the UK to Japan in that time makes sense... I think.

"A few more questions?"

_"Hmmph... One more. The rest will be at another time."_ It scoffed much to my own annoyance. Clearly, he didn't want to indulge my interests. I did understand, but I wanted to know at least what was... That. The thing that happened when I summoned him at the very least.

"What was... The sudden... Y'know." A cough. "When I summoned you I suddenly felt more... Y'know... Excited?"

Nothing really wanted to come from my mouth today, huh.

_"Yes. I had noticed. It was impossible to not feel your rather lustful desires when you summoned me."_ Something in my head shifted.  _"Your existence is of a Shadow with human ego, however, you retain the memories of a human, a unique phenomenon that shouldn't be."_  Nyarlathotep mused. "Most _Shadows are born from humanities collective unconscious, you are no exception. However, it would appear that your soul was able to gather the masses cognitions to form your body, mainly lustful desires."_

Oh?

_"I suppose... When you summoned me, your body released such energy which why you felt such lust at that moment."_

Hmm... Interesting.

Honestly, if I was going to be made from human thoughts, of course, it had to involve lust considering the fact, as mentioned before, I am a massive whore. Sex had become a major factor in my life regardless if I wanted it or not. But I had some decency unlike some others at the very least, cause I knew some people had no shame even with kids around.

_"However... If you continue to summon me, more of your lustful desires will be released. Your body will slowly disperse until it no longer exists."_

E-Eh?

"S-So I shouldn't summon you?"

_"Unless the need arises, no. You will need to learn to defend yourself against Shadows and anyone else who dares to stop you. That is for another time however, I grow weary of this realm. Now..."_

The world shifted.

_"Let me show you how to exit Mementos."_

* * *

_Error..._

_Data corrupted._

_Please skip this section._

* * *

When it came to otherworldy travels, I was expecting some magical device, demonic rituals, anything you would see in common media.

But... To keep it short and not overly complicated for my already damaged brain.

Basically, I just needed to find a weak spot within Mementos, usually a small field of energy or a strange haze and just rip it open with my hands like a packet of crisps and snacks.

It was disappointing for little olf me, someone who travels a lot anyway. But I was actually glad it was simple and not overly complicated bullshit.

* * *

"..?! Again?"

Once again, Morgana felt another surge that awoke him from his sleep, just like the one from the buffet not too long ago. This time, however, he could feel hesitance and fear from Zorro, stronger than before, more focused. But just like before it didn't take long for the feeling to disappear.

Zorro didn't respond when Morgana tried to reach out.

It was around morning he believed. He wasn't entirely sure. He was still exhausted and stuffed from the buffet and the amount of fish no cat should indulge themselves in. His 'owner' was still asleep, or so he thought, however, it seemed his unintentional yell woke him up and now Akira was staring at him.

"Oh... I woke you up didn't I? I'm sorry."

Akira said nothing, sitting up before grabbing the cat and holding him close much to Morgana's protest.

"H-Hey! I'm fine! I'm not some cat you can- Mmmf?!"

As soon as Akira rubbed down his lower back with force, Morgana couldn't help himself. The hands made him feel tingly, feel good. He hated it because it made him uncertain, yet he loved it because... Well, Akira was good with fusses.

"...Loud."

"Sorry." Morgana nibbled his hand out of instinct and as an apology. Akira never liked noise. "I've just... Felt it again."

"..."

Ah, he was allowing him to vent.

"It's like... Something keeps startling Zorro. It makes him panic and keeps making me feel strange and... It feels familiar and it's bothering me because- Gah! I can't put my paw on it!"

"...Familiar?"

Akira no longer stroked him, however, he still held the animal in his embrace.

"Yeah, like..." Morgana struggled to find the words. "Do you... Do you think it may have something to do with my memories?"

Deep down, Morgana hoped that was the case despite how unlikely that could be. But if it was, maybe he could truly find out if he's a human or not! Who he was, his family, anything! He wanted to know!

Akira gaze fell on his window, his face null of expression.

"...Arsene feels something too."

"Arsene too?"

So he wasn't the only one.

It seemed like Akira struggled with his words. "In... Shibuya?" He fiddled with his shirt. "S'like..."

He said nothing else.

"I see... We can check out Shibuya tomorrow after classes?" Morgana suggested. "I want to show you guys something anyway, so this is the perfect opportunity to do so, no?"

"Mmmhmm..."

"Ah, let's tell Ryuji and Lady Ann now over the phone then."

"..."

"You- You forgot to charge your phone again?"

Akira looked away before the cat could see the embarrassment on his face.

* * *

_Error..._

_Data corrupted._

_Please skip this section._

* * *

"So wait, can... Shadows, actually get out of Mementos like this?"

That made me curious. But then again if that was the case, why isn't this place infested with demonic monsters?

_"No, you share a portion of my powers which is why you can come and go as you please. I expected that I could do that myself, however, my powers have been, as mentioned, nullified..."_

"I see..."

Maybe I could invite Incubus if possible...

_"I would prefer... If... You..."_

_Bip!_

...

N-Nyarlathotep?

Hello?

It was silent, once again he had nothing to say to me.

Great. If he's gonna be a moody bitch, so be it.

Anyway.

Lo and behold, I was finally out of Mementos and let me tell you I almost cried when I saw another human face. But I didn't despite my urges. No longer did I feel the oppressive atmosphere, no longer could I feel the sensations of floating on air. I was in the real world and I was so glad. According to the conversations from the people around me, I could understand anyhow, I was in Shibuya Central Street.

So yes. It was definitely Shibuya.

However, now I had another problem.

"Geez buddy~" Polka chuckled as I scanned the next alleyways. "I leave you for 5 minutes and your halfway across the world? I knew you got lost easily but calm down would ya?"

"Asshole, I haven't gotten lost since I was 6 and have had a great sense of direction since."

And my buddy was back, that was great. Anyway, where was I?

You see... I was kinda homeless right now. Which, usually isn't a problem. Due to the many incidents, I have been in around the UK I was usually stuck to living on the streets and typically prefered alleyways over a bed... Yes I know, it's fucking weird, shut up.

However, it was usually with a sleeping bag. I had no idea where to get one plus I was far too exhausted to actually look around for a shop that sold them and since this was Shibuya getting lost was a certainty. At this rate, I'll probably pick the best-looking alley and call it a night.

Which seemed to be my only option right now.

Well, shit.

"Hmm~" The lanky creature, with limbs too long and thin to be human, crawled up the wall. With skin as grey as ash that was twisted and torn, with fingers and toes stubby and hollow, it's black beady eyes stared into my soul. "Welp, I think that alleyway with that Unbreakable shop?"

"You too?"

It did look decent. It was a narrow alleyway and none of the buildings looked touched in years except for a shop with the main colour scheme involving shades of green. Untouchable, the store, seemed to be military-themed from the quick glance he had. Not his sort of thing, but he Casca would love that shit.

The shop was dark inside so it was most likely closed. And while I could still hear the mumblings of people nearby, they were nowhere near me and

Perfect.

"Looks cosey enough." Polka shrugged. It's neck twisted at impossible angles and it's jaw unhinged like a snake. "Eh... I'm too tired for this. I'll be back to haunt you again or something. I'll check out this 'roommate' I guess."

I plonked by behind down just further down the alley, where there was a curve that leads to a dead end and unless someone tried to go further down, no one would ever see me. But there were a few random paint brushes hiding behind a garbage dump.

Weird. They looked new and clean too.

"Please, if your here that just means my brains getting loopy again and that I'm not stuck in a demented dream."

And the fact this was all real and not a dream scared me.

"That's what meds are for~"

When I blinked, Polka was nowhere to be seen. He was gone from my mind.

...

Yeah, shit he's right. I never took my meds before the snack, did I? That was bad... I'll need to get another prescription too if I can find a clinic.

Ugh. Too much crap to worry about... Too tired to actually deal with most of them, it felt like my brain was about to melt into mush but.

"Speaking of worries..."

Fuck. I've been feeling hot and bothered ever since I left Mementos but... I never realised I was so pent up until I sat down and finally let myself relax, I couldn't help rubbing my palm against my crotch, the sudden friction made me gasp and flinch.

Yeah, still feels good. If I leave this any longer I would actually die.

Hmm...

Looks like my hand is gonna accompany me tonight.

"Hello, old friend," I muttered to my hand like a fucking idiot, trying my best not to giggle at my stupidity as I unbuttoned my pants and swiftly removed both that and my underwear (fucking black laced lingerie, amazing) just below my knees. Wasting very little time I grasped my hardening member gently, brushing my thumb against the tip and watched the pre smear across my skin.

My lips trembled, and I had to control myself, use one hand to stop myself from making too much noise as I slowly began to jerk myself off with the other. My body was acting like it hadn't had any action before, the gentlest of touches almost made me gasp.

How irritating.

Many a time had I done this before and more. I was used to most things, a simple touch from my hands should not-

"Ghh."

I shouldn't be complaining.

Just a quick session.

Don't linger too long.

That's it.

It would still feel good. That's all that mattered.

I hesitated.

Damn it. If I don't hurry someone might come-

A set of footsteps got my attention, footsteps that sounded close. There was the faint outline of a shadow coming down the opposite end of the alley and suddenly my hairs were on its ends.

Shit!

There was one set of footsteps, I had no idea if its a hallucination out for my blood or not but just in case it's not-

Mentally mourning the state of my dick I immediately began buttoning my pants back up as quickly as possible, hissing when I almost punched myself in the process. My pants were still tight against my crotch and when I tried to adjust myself-

"O-Oh."

Too late.

On the other end of the corner popped out the head of something blue and white. From what he could tell, a handsome young man that could be described as a bishonen with neat, dark blue hair that wore a dark purple shirt over a black vest as well as black pants that on closer inspection, looked like a bit filthy from the trash. Pretty eyelashes and pale skin that was also somewhat dirty.

Overall? Really good looking.

And from his cheeks had a shade of pink and how he nervously averted his eyes, I'd say he was shy.

Cute.

"M-My apologies!" The man, with a surprisingly deep voice, stuttered in Japanese. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."

I expected him to run off, say 'now I must leave' or be embarrassed and run off like a dog with its tail between its legs. But he just stared, a sudden rather interested look in his eyes.

"Can..." I swallowed, crossing my legs. "Can I help you?"

I silently thanked past me for researching Japanese. I knew how to speak it mostly, it was mainly the writing such as hiragana and katakana I had difficulties with.

He snapped out of his trance, coming out of the hiding spot of the corner he began to walk up to me. Instantly I felt cautious of his presence. His clothes looked a tad messy, unclean just like the dirt on his face and for a moment I thought he might have been homeless too.

"I had no intentions of interrupting you from your rest." He apologised, his eyes scanning me intently. "However, please note that you are in my resting place."

...N-Nap?

Wait.

When- How on earth- When did he think I was taking a nap with a dick in my hand? Was he trying to make it less awkward? Did he see something else? Or did he not actually see what I was doing from his angle?

Now that he's up here... There was a small fleck of ink- dark paint on his collar.

The realisation hit me.

"O-Oh! Were those paintbrushes yours then?"

That would explain the fresh brushes if that was the case.

"That is correct." He nodded. So he was an artist then? That was cool. "I usually hide my things in more secure locations, however, lady luck disapproves of me today."

That's rough.

But besides that, I was quite clearly in his space.

"S-Sorry. I should leave-"

"It is quite alright." The man chuckled, however his laugh had some type of sadness behind it. "I don't particularly mind the company of another person in these times, it's a dangerous place, Shibuya is right now."

Isn't that more of a reason to not ask strangers for some company?

His eyes were still locked on me. It was like some machine was scanning me for illegal goods. "My apologies again for staring. I've taken a proper examination of you and I've wanted to ask you a favour."

O-Oh?

"Before that... What's your name buddy?"

He's pretty polite in his speech. Cute.

"M-My apologies-" New game, take a shot every time he says 'my apologies', spoiler alert, you might pass out. "My name is Yusuke Kitagawa, I am... Or was an art student at Kosei High's Art Division. Recently, I have been in a slump for my works, however no matter where I look no inspiration comes. It's quite vexing to be in this situation, especially for so long in this state. But..."

For a moment I could have sworn his eyes glimmered, a flash of desperation in his eyes. "You've given me a sliver of inspiration! Would you please be my model for my next art piece?!"

...

O-Oh.

What?

"H-Hold on, can you give me a moment?!" How forward this stranger was! Too forward to ask a stranger to model for you. "This is kinda out of nowhere you know."

Yusuke flinched at my tone. "I am aware. However, you have this otherworldly presence that's quite captivating to me. If I can capture it in my art then surely-" He paused for a moment. "I need to... Before sensei's exhibition on the 15th!"

O-Other worldly- What?

"And?"

"Would you?!" He was almost begging at this point. "I- I don't have much time left!

I knew you for less than five minutes and you already know how to put someone on the spot like that. Impressive.

Hmm... He does seem pretty desperate judging by that tone. And... This is all pretty suspicious, the strange deadline and desperation, more so than the weirdo who randomly came to me probably with the intent to mug me. Why does he need something submitted before the 15th? And if he's also homeless then...

Then...

"...How much?"

Hopefully, this isn't what I think it is. Do it out of the good of your heart me.

"P-Pardon?" He blinked. "Oh-Payment, yes. I'll make sure you are paid but... I don't have much financially."

Ah, yes. Haru you fucking dumbass. You say, do it out of the good of your heart then ask a homeless guy for cash, that will certainly work.

"Hmm... Well, I don't really have much to do right now... What are the hours?"

The look of increasing joy and relief in his eyes was setting off alarms in my head. It wasn't the 'oh thank god my homework will be in on time' look, it resembled the 'oh thank god I won't be kicked out of my house' look.

"We can start tomorrow whenever you're ready! I can ask sensei and we can work in my studio and we can talk about times."

I nodded in response. "Alright then. But can you do me a few favours in return?"

Mainly where a clinic so I can get a prescription for my medication again.

"Of course! My apologies for bothering you, but once again, thank... You..?"

..? Why was his face suddenly so mortified? What was he looking- OH!

THAT!

"I- I thought as much..." He looked so nervous! "I... Pretended not to notice out of respect..."

That's sweet of him.

"...Tell you what. I'll... Sort my business over somewhere with more privacy. Um, can I sleep here?"

"O-Of course! I have a futon you can-"

"No, no, no! It's fine!"

Besides! How can I tell if your lying? I'm staying awake so you don't potentially stab me!

"I'll be right back!"

"D-Do take your time!"

"Please don't say that when you know exactly what I'm doing!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna be able to update for a bit because of college right now. But there should be a new chapter in 2 months time at the very least.
> 
> Please do leave a comment! I would love to hear your thoughts and it makes me happy to know that people are actually enjoying this. :)
> 
> Also? I have a discord! I'll leave a link but if you wanna join when the link dies please tell me.
> 
> https://discord.gg/4nZXQk


	4. Madarame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru meets Madarame, and immediately realises that this old man is dangerous.  
> Oh, and he meets a talking kitty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I just wanted to show the amazing art for Haru Knight the amazing Nicandragon on Twitter has done.  
> (since images don't like me for some reason)  
> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/311263790471839745/575830371774758922/20190508_184215.jpg
> 
> https://twitter.com/Nicandragon

 Those who say art is useless are ignorant.

Art is in everything.

Food, clothes, houses, the machines that keep us alive.

Without the majesty and beauty of art.

Humanity will cease to exist.

_**.** _

_Loading... Loading... Loading..._

_Transistor Core offline._

_Commence playback._

_**.** _

"Hey man, I've got a proposal for a part-time job you might be interested in."

"No thanks."

Something in my brain seemed to have clicked in place as soon as a gradual warmth began to emerge from the night sky, scared away by the emerging light. It was such a strange sensation that left me feeling fuzzy in the head, tired even. Before I knew it voices began to emerge from the main street, slowly becoming louder as the minutes past into hours.

Then again, I really didn't get any sleep last night.

That was entirely my fault.

I was cautious about my new buddy. Some random, attractive stranger just asks you to model out of the blue then goes to sleep as if I wasn't a potential threat. Apparently, the artist wasn't the slightest bit worried about it.

But I was. I was up all night, absolutely exhausted and tired to the bone but I wouldn't let sleep take me.

And now?

My body wanted to shut down.

"Excuse me?" Yusuke called out to me in concern. "Do you feel ill?"

"No... Just tired."

Right now we were going through Shibuya. We were in a recognisable area, the famous Shibuya crossing and the sights of well over one hundred people walking across the road made me remember that this was indeed one of the busiest roads in the world.

I couldn't stop my yawn in time from escaping.

The artist, Yusuke, looked somewhat tired too. He slept decently well, but whenever I focused my attention on him, I would always hear pathetic whimpers from the nightmares he had. Such whimpers would always make me flinch, and my mind would drift off to distant times before the loud snap of teenagers popping soda cans would snap me from my thoughts.

Friday... 6/5...

If I was home I would be out hunting out in the woods nearby, or just making some special mechanical devices and traps.

But here I was. In fucking Japan for no reason and about to model for some twink... Twunk? He looks decently strong? Whatever- Some artist mainly for the fact last night set off red alarms in my head.

Deep down, I hoped I was wrong.

However, something told me that wasn't the case.

And him... And Nyarlathotep is still silent. I wonder if something happened or Polka is distracting him. Could Persona's be affected by hallucinations? I would think so if the Persona and hallucination are apart of one's personal unconscious.

"-Man, Japan's future in competitive sports is gonna be thrashed now."

"-Wait, Gas Chamber is coming to Shibu-"

"-Can't believe Kamoshida was such a bastard-"

"-Another Psychotic Breakdown? So many burned alive..."

So many people around me, chatting so frequently... I had no idea what any of them were talking about. I kept hearing about this Kamoshida though and it made me wonder if something happened to turn him into a nice guy into an utter bastard.

I wonder, I wonder.

We chatted some more, as we chatted, I noticed that Yusuke's voice sounded a bit familiar. But I couldn't put my finger on it.

"I can try and persuade Madarame for you to rest at his place, Knight-san." Yusuke offered. "It won't be much, but its the best I can currently do right now in my predicament."

Knight-san.

That honorific sounded weird on my last name.

"Thank you, Yu-Kitagawa-san."

That was right? The correct honorific I mean. Don't think kun would be right...

Usually, I would turn away the offer, but this Madarame seemed like bad news.

Madarame... It sounded like an uncommon, Japanese name. Apparently, there's an art exhibit happening in a week or so held under him from what I could gather, for the world's famous artist with many distinct styles that was almost like he was a legion of artists in one man.

Not that famous if I've never heard of him.

Then again, artsy shit wasn't my thing.

The artists head would occasionally turn to me as we walked down the road, on the occasion readjusting the art bag on his shoulder. It was like he wanted to ask a question, but couldn't find the courage to do so. He seemed increasingly hesitant as we walked together. I thought I should try and lighten the mood, have a casual conversation or something. But I wasn't entirely sure if that would be appropriate or not.

Might as well attempt to.

"Are you feeling alright?" I started, trying to keep my tone low and even. "You seem a little... Cautious?"

To be honest, I was feeling cautious too. All the way here, I was feeling the eyes of everyone around on me. Perhaps it was my clothes, perhaps a half-Japanese/White person was a unique sight for them. Perhaps those eyes weren't from the crowd around me, just figments of my mind.

Yusuke was silent for a moment longer, as if he was thinking of what to say. "I am rather... Nervous of returning. Sensei has been been a rather terrible mood recently and I don't wish to bring his ire."

"I see... So he gets a bit vocal?"

Test the waters a little.

"...That is correct." A hesitant pause. "However, due to a recent scandal involving a series of rather baseless accusations to sully his name, his mood has worsened. He... The other day he had to take a trip and forgot to leave a spare key."

Accusations... I'll keep that in mind.

"So your not homeless?" Yet?

"No. I'm not. That was just an accident. Sensei is an admirable man, he isn't the type to harm others purposely." He was saying that as if he was reassuring himself. "There was also an incident involving my school and..." Yusuke stiffened up like he was about to relive a bad memory. Something in my heart ached. "It doesn't matter. We are here now."

We were walking for a bit now and when I saw exactly what the house was I wasn't entirely sure if it was actually real.

It... It looked fucking shit.

The best way of describing this place was as if someone glued sheets of metal together of low and average quality, stuck a door and some windows onto it and dared to call it a livable and perfectly sane home. It was shocking considering that if this was indeed the place of some world-renowned artist I was expecting something a little more extravagant, even the houses and apartments nearby looked to be higher quality than this.

I could just blow a small gust on this house and it would collapse into dust.

"This is sensei's atelier," Yusuke confirmed for me. "According to him, the quality can affect his art and be using the quality of what one considers a shack may become the inspiration for his arts."

Shack...

Shaaaaaack.

Madarame... Shack...

"I see... I guess you can get something from this."

I have no clue. Art really wasn't my thing. The only really artsy thing I can do is vocals and guitar. Does sewing count? I can fix fabrics on clothes and do some minor tailoring but that's it.

"Please, wait here for a moment while I call for sensei."

...?

Man, I really am tired. He actually sounds like Matthew Mercer now that I listen closer.

How lucky! I would kill to have a Matthew Mercer voice.

Another yawn escaped me.

Yusuke walked up to the door of the house and pressed the doorbell. For a while, no one answered. For a moment the thought of a piece of metal fell from the house from the vibrations of the bell and fell on top of Madarame seemed highly amusing to me.

But alas, such a fate was not to be.

"Who is it?"

It was... The voice of an elderly sounding man. Was this the dude?

"Sensei, it's me, Yusuke. I've brought a model for the next piece."

A beat.

"...I'll be right down. Please give me a moment."

Silence soon followed. Thankfully it didn't take too long for the front door to open and my sights immediately caught sight of the figure of an elderly man with grey hair tied up in a ponytail wearing traditional looking Japanese clothes. He looked relatively harmless... However, something in my brain itched about him and his entire presence practically screamed bad news.

I felt a weird sensation from him.

_Hunger._

I felt hungry and itchy on the inside.

It was a feeling completely alien to me.

"Hello, Yusuke... My apologies about the incident." Madarame apologised. "I didn't mean to lock you out for so long."

"It's alright sensei."

"No, no! I'll have to make it up for you." He looked so guilty. "If there's anything you need for your project, please tell me."

They sounded so friendly to each other, like family...

...

I- I wonder if everyone else is doing alright.

Casca was in a really bad mood a few days back, she was really angry but she wouldn't explain why. Leon seemed to have gotten into an argument and... And... Her. She didn't seem to be mentally well either...

"Ah... My apologies," Madarame chuckled. "I didn't notice you there. I believe you are the model Yusuke mentioned?"

Ah.

"Y-Yes. That's me." His voice brought me out of my thoughts. "My name is Haru Knight, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir..."

He chuckled as if amused, walking up to me and hovered above me. "There's no need to call me sir, just Madarame is fine." He began to examine me intently, very much like Yusuke did so last night, however, his gaze was more thoughtful, more analytical. He held my face so I would be facing him with his hands, tilting at certain angles. To say the least, I wasn't too fond of some random stranger touching my face without permission but as long as he left my neck alone I should be fine.

And for an elderly man, his fingers were surprisingly smooth.

"Hmm... You have a rather interesting eye colour." He noted. "It's almost golden. And the pink in there makes you look like your a lovestruck fool... Not that you are one."

...Oh yeah, that Incubus did mention that my eyes looked like that... But why were my eyes gold suddenly?

"Skin is quite smooth as well. Combined with your looks and short stature you look like a young lady."

"..?!"

I'm not that fucking short- I'm only 5'1 you asshole! I'll get my growth spurt one day! Ya' hear me?!

I'll be tall... Just you wait.

...

S-Shut up, I'm not small, my bones are just stunted. That's all.

"...Tell me Yusuke, is this truly the model you wish to use for your theme?"

"Ah, that is correct sensei."

Madarame finally let go of my face, straightening himself up before turning towards the artist.

"I see, I see... I happen to be needed elsewhere for the next few days for a meeting outside Tokyo," Yusuke's expression turned into one of surprise. "So you will have complete freedom within my atelier until the exhibit starts."

That exhibit was starting on the 15th right? And today is the 6th... Just less than 9 days then?

I'll have to see about finding information then before the deadline.

"T-Thank you sensei!" Yusuke bowed deeply, practically bending at a ninety-degree angle. "I'll make sure everything is completed by the time the exhibition starts!"

"It's not a problem."

For a moment, I had noticed it.

Something in Madarame's eyes seemed to have glimmered, like a flash of something I couldn't catch in time. I had no idea what it was, but something sent shivers down my spine.

There something off about all of this.

I just know it.

It was such a predatory look, reserved for very dangerous.

"Very well, I must be off now." Madarame bowed. "Yusuke, please treat our guest with respect while he's here."

"But of course!" Yusuke looked almost offended at that. "Art always depends on the model's mood after all."

I mean, regardless of the art its common decency to treat the guests... Right?

They both said their goodbyes, I never got the chance to see where Madarame was heading off too before Yusuke wasted no time dragging me into the building by my hand, seemingly deaf to my protests all the while he started to ramble to himself. I heard him talk about his stroke of good luck among other things but I really wasn't paying any attention to that.

He was far too suspicious.

Suddenly, we were in a small art room. Mostly empty space with a desk on the opposite end of the room covered in brushes, paints, models, you name it. The first thing I noticed was how... Lifeless and dull everything looked.

It was all wooden and that wasn't a bad thing. I enjoyed such simplistic areas such as this, not as much when its all on fire mind you but it was still nice.

It was more like... There was just no life, no joy from such a room.

Like it was...

Like it was...

It was, like was it? Like-

Fuck!

I couldn't help myself. When I see things that remind me of that I-

"Are you alright?!"

Ah...

_'Mother knows best... Never forget that my lovely orchid.'_

"Shit- Sorry, I didn't mean- Fuck!"

Yusuke was over me, so close but not close enough that we're touching. It made me glad, yet-

"You... Made a hole in the wall."

E-Eh? When did I..?

O-Oops... I may have... Accidentally punched a hole through the wall in my panic. My knuckles looked scratched and for a moment I was impressed by my strength, however, I knew full well that I wasn't strong enough to punch through wood like that.

And the quality looked pretty decent for an old shack like-

...

Oh...

"Dry rot." I winced as I took a closer look inside the hole, the sight of the decayed wood brought back unforgiving memories of the shed before the flood back home. The stench made me shudder in disgust. Seriously, we all know England is the land that never stops raining, but even as I, a Brit, still forget how wet it is half of the time. "It's pretty bad too..."

"I see..." Yusuke peeked at the hole. "How unsightly..."

"Looks like its been fucking up the wood for quite a while now," I pointed out the spread. "Poor ventilation, if it stays any longer it's just gonna end up worse."

"I'll have to tell sensei then when he comes back..." He squinted at the hole. "...Let us move to a different room. But if I may ask...?"

Oh, he's subtlely asking why I punched the wall. Thank god he's not asking me to pay for it.

"...This room just reminds me of something bad from home." I said coolly. There was something black on the wall, crawling up and the twisted looks and disturbing noises for grinding metal was a curse only I had to bear. Yusuke was confused, trying to look where I was looking but seeing nothing. "It's nothing. Um... Listen, before we begin can I ask for a favour quickly?"

"Of course, I'll try and provide whatever you may need."

Desperation was in his voice.

It made me uncomfortable because this situation was starting to feel far too similar.

"Is there a clinic nearby that sells prescripted medication?"

Yusuke blinked in surprise. Was he expecting something else?

"I have psychosis..." I hesitantly confessed. "Well, that's what the doctors said, but last time they said that I was- Ah, never mind, getting off track. Anyway, I don't have any medication left for it so..."

"Psychosis..." Yusuke repeated for himself like it was a foreign, alien word. His eyes narrowed and his body tensed up as if something was about to set him off into flight mode as if he was about to run from the mere sight of me.

Suddenly I felt afraid.

"H-Hey. I'm not some demented serial killer." I snapped. "I can control myself, I'm as harmless as a kitten, so please don't-"

"This could work well into the theme..."

"-Kick me out or... Excuse me?"

What?

Yusuke walked over to the table on the other side of the room, cleaning through the art supplies and ignoring my confusion. "A theme of love tainted by the eyes of society, too fearful of things too strange to comprehend. That would certainly draw their eyes... Or perhaps a drawing of hidden truths, true selves hidden behind... Masks!"

"U-Um..."

"But for a theme of love? Maybe if I were to..."

"K-Kitagawa-san?"

Oh no, he's an art whore. The type of artist so focused on their work in la-la land that they become unaware of the true world around them, they were absolutely impossible to talk to in such a state.

Suddenly his eyes shot in my direction, the inspiration in his eyes glimmered like the bright stars on a pitch black night. "Please, excuse my manners Knight-san, but I must make another request. My theme is love and I have been inspired by your words to create an art piece unlike any other. So please, I beg of you and do mind my modesty... Please, would you help me created the best nude painting ever?!"

...

Eh?

Umm... Hold on a sec.

This guy was beyond eccentric. Okay, meeting a guy for five minutes then being asked to model for them? A bit weird, but I can get behind that. Meeting a guy then asking if they can model NUDE for them not even a full day after meeting them? A tad out of the question. I don't really mind nude stuff, however, I was starting suspect that this wasn't just an artist thing and Yusuke was secretly into voyeurism but hasn't actually realised it yet.

Or he's in denial. One or the other.

...

But... I can probably get information out of him if I do so, to know if I'm being overly paranoid or if I'm right.

And besides, modelling nude sounds pretty fun~

"Okay, sure!"

...

* * *

"I- I wasn't expecting such a quick response." Yusuke nervously chuckled, staring at his food like it was poison. "And I never realised for such a charming individual that you could have such a... Foul mouth."

Aw, how sweet of him, he thinks I'm charming~

"Well, at least you know what to expect from my mouth now."

Anyway. After that conversation, we discussed times, which didn't really take too long considering I'm currently homeless with no form of a job nor do I have access to do any of the hobbies I usually engage in. He also offered to let me stay at the shack with him, and while I did protest at first, it was supposed to be raining for the next few nights according to Yusuke so I reluctantly took his offer. I did fluster Yusuke though when I attempted to strip for his art, however, he just told me he needed to get new paints and brushes before he can get a start, which did disappoint me, but I understood.

Calm down me, he's just gonna paint you, no need to get eager over that.

However, I was starting to feel rather needy again, which meant I had to find something or someone to help quench my desire. Cause fuck me (figuratively) I was fucking desperate.

Also, just in case you were all wondering about his foul mouth comment, Yusuke dropped a woodcraft hammer on my foot in his excitement and I'm just gonna leave it at saying I really didn't appreciate it, at all.

After all that was done and Yusuke had a quick clean over so he didn't look too scruffy, I decided to treat us to some food from a Diner in Shibuya. Yusuke did try and protest, but the loud rumble from his stomach silenced the both of us. Mostly from amazement on my part because damn, that was fucking loud.

And now that I had noticed... It was hard to tell, but Yusuke was incredibly skinny underneath his clothes. It was quite clear he hadn't eaten properly in a while. Despite his reservations, he seemed to appreciate the food... Even though he's still acting like the food is poison.

"It's just steak..." I tried to urge him to eat, taking a sip from the coffee. The coffee was alright, not the worst but certainly not the best. It was almost instant coffee like, but I saw them make it in the machine over the counter. "It's not going to kill you..."

"My apologies... Excuse my behaviour, but are you sure you wanted to pay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. It's like almost 3000 yen, isn't too much for what I have left."

Well. Kinda, but enough about that.

"Now go ahead, eat up! It's gonna get cold."

Speaking of, I still have to have mine, even if I'm honestly not that hungry.

The Diner itself wasn't too big, however, that didn't stop the place from being swarmed by people. And by the time Yusuke was partway through his food the place was teeming with parents and their kids. Now, I wasn't too fond of kids, however, I wasn't going to yell at a bunch of toddlers for being so damn noisy.

I did, however, seem to attract some of their attention.

"..."

Two kids, both male and perhaps around eight years old at most, stared at me in interest that burned in their eyes and into my side. It was getting increasing awkward as they stared at me, completely ignoring Yusuke who started to swiftly devour the steak.

...Are they going to break the ice first? Or am I going to have to address their existence?

"Hey, Nii-san." One began regardless if I cared or not. "Why do you look so strange?"

And apparently, they have the bluntness of a hammer.

"Are you Japanese?" The other asked, tilting his head. "You look weird though..."

"Very weird!"

Hmm, looks they manners isn't their forte.

Might as well satisfy their curiosity before they destroy someone's afternoon.

"Half Japanese." I corrected them. "But why do you ask? Plus, don't call me weird, it's very rude to call another person, especially someone you just met, weird."

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

At least they had the decency to apologise. The first kid pointed at Yusuke, still enjoying his steak, nudging his friend to get his attention. "Are you that student?"

"Student?"

"The one with... Mada... Mamarade?"

I almost choked on my coffee at that name. Now he was gonna be a knock-off marmalade product in my mind and nothing was gonna change that.

Yusuke paused, almost tempted to ignore them to enjoy his food, eying them up as if they were dangerous monsters. He stayed silent, continuing to eat his food with less noticeable vigour than before, clearly not intended to talk anymore about his teacher.

"Is it true about the rumours about him? About his... His... Plaguerism?"

Oh?

"Do you mean plagiarism?" I asked the child, silently urging him to continue.

Plagiarism...

Mamarade- Madarame, Shack, Plagiarism.

Something in my head clicked from those words.

And I was starting to get the information that I needed. From a child no less.

"Yeah! That!" The second child nodded. "The news said that people blamed him for stealing art for years!"

"Mommy said that he's a bad man...That's he's hurt others."

"And that-"

"How unacceptably rude."

The second boy was cut off by Yusuke, who no longer indulged himself in the food (which was mostly gone anyway) and just stared at his plate with rising annoyance turning anger in his eyes. He turned towards the children, irritated at their questions. "I can assure you, those are nothing but baseless slander made by those jealous from his talent."

"But-"

"But nothing. Sensei has done nothing but be kind towards me ever since he took me in. I know him better than anyone, especially by the media. All of it is slander, nothing more, nothing else."

His tone was filled with agitation and annoyance. It felt like he was about two seconds away from suplexing the children into the sun if they continued, or at least snap at them and make them cry.

But the children didn't seem to realise that. They were too curious.

"But my mom said-"

Time to interfere.

"Hey, kids?"

I tried to get their attention, reaching for my wallet. "Listen, my friend has had a hard day today and he needs some time to himself. So tell you what." I pulled out two 5000 yen notes, handing it to the both of them. "How about the two of you treat yourselves with these if you leave him be?"

And there goes a good 10,000 yen from my savings.

But anything to stop a potential argument.

And it worked!

Both of them looked at the notes like they were gifts from the gods and took them eagerly. If I knew one thing, kids loved opportunities to get more money for their candy addiction. Cause that was certainly me when I was younger. "Thanks, nii-san!"

"Thank you! Mom will get worried if we're gone for too long anyway." The other boy shrugged. "See you later!"

"Alright kids," I smiled at the both of them. "Hope you have fun today."

"We will!"

And just like that, the children immediately left with the notes in hand, eagerly waving them around to show their parents. Chuckling at their retreating forms, I turned back to Yusuke in concern. The artist looked incredibly troubled, no longer did he try and eat the food in front of him, which was no just a few mouthfuls of chewed up meat.

The atmosphere grew tense. Yusuke was clearly upset and it seemed like he had to deal with this regularly.

Should I... Should I say something?

"Hey..."

"I am fine." He said perhaps too harshly. "Sensei hasn't done anything wrong... People keep asking about it... Kosei wasn't my fault..."

...

"Kitagawa... Would you like to leave?" I asked. "Being here seems to be stressful for you."

...

"Please... I would like to go home."

...

"Alright. Give me a moment to pay for these then we can leave."

* * *

"..?! Morgana, where are you going?!"

"I'll be right back!"

* * *

_"Hmph. Why did you waste your valuable money on this human?"_

We had left the Diner about half an hour ago in silence, mostly so Yusuke can keep his cool. It was still day when we were getting close to the shack, however, it wouldn't be too long now until night fell even with the number of people still around. I was half tempted to look around Shibuya some more, look at the shops and see about getting a part-time in the future before I settled down for the night.

However, it seems like SOMEONE decided to finally come back, you asshole. Also? Because I'm nice most of the time and Yusuke was hungry.

_"Is that all?"_

Yes. Besides, you made this money in the first place and these clothes and phone, so a few more bills shouldn't be too hard for you.

_"..."_

...Oh my god. You seriously can't make money from thin air again?

_"..."_

I can't tell if I want to laugh or cry.

But I was trying to stop my laughter in real life but Yusuke was giving me a weird look.

_"..."_

But enough about that, where the fuck were you?

_"...Your illusion filled mind blocked me. And the curr, Polka, was insistent to become my 'friend'."_

Aww, he likes you.

_"How absurd... This is not the reason why I have called for you. We require privacy, however, so send that human away."_

Yeah, yeah. Hold on.

"Hey, Kitagawa-san? You mind if you go ahead without me? I need to quickly check up on something..."

Yusuke looked at me, confused for a moment, before nodding, not saying another word as he continued on. It was quite clear that he was too mentally exhausted to deal with much and just wanted to go home.

That was fine, that was fine.

I stayed put as he went, watching him slowly disappear within the crowds. I waited for a minute longer, to make sure he was gone before I swiftly retreated into a nearby alley. If any of the people noticed they did nothing about it, clearly they were only concerned about getting where they were needed.

But I did hear something rather unique.

"Mreow~"

A... Was that a cat?

I turned.

Oh! A black and white cat had followed me in. It was wearing a yellow collar so it did belong to someone. The cat looked at me curiously, its long tail waving behind it. I couldn't help myself, crouching down and tried to motion the cat to come towards me, which it did. Overcome with childlike joy, I couldn't help myself when a giggle escaped me.

"Hey, buddy." I fussed its lower back, that one spot where I knew it would love. The cat mewled, getting onto its back and showed its belly. Avoiding its tummy since I knew better, I stroked its face gently, getting a gentle nibble back in return. "Having a little stroll?"

The cat made me feel so fuzzy. It's so. Fucking. CUTE!

_"...The cat has a resonance..."_

Eh?

_"..."_

Oh yeah. Nyarlathotep wants a chat... Alright, just give the cutie a little fuss for a few more seconds...

"Aw, cutie~" I smiled. "If you didn't have an owner, I would totally take you in~"

Distractions, distractions. Who cares if the said distraction is an absolute cutie!

And now that I was sure that I was alone... Ignoring the cutie patoot for a moment.

"Hey, what's up, you asshole?"

The cat looked up to me, suddenly startled by the tone in my voice. I didn't particularly care, it was a fucking cat, it wasn't gonna hunt me down or make me regret my life choices.

I think Yusuke's irritation had spread to me, then again Nyarlathotep just irritated me regardless so-

 _"It does not matter if you are irritated by my presence or not."_ Nyarlathotep snapped.  _"Did you not feel the hunger from that man, Madarame, when you met him?"_

...Why does that matter? Do you know the reason behind that?

_"...I see... Tell me, what place would you associate with art?"_

Eh? O-Okay? An atelier?

_"Try again."_

An... Art gallery?

_"Very close... Think of that, on a larger scale."_

What- What are you trying to pull here? Is there something you're trying to tell me and your being way too secretive about it?

...

"Alright... Art gallery on a bigger scale and art galleries are pretty big usually so... Let me think... Art... Museum?"

Something in the air around me suddenly shifted, for a moment obtaining a purplish pink tint. For that moment I felt something inside of me surge like a bolt of electricity, setting something inside of my heart ablaze like a pyre.

"What-?!"

Then, the world around me changed.

It warped and shifted.

Then.

* * *

_..._

_Entering the Palace of Envy..._

_..._

* * *

...?!

I was suddenly aware of the very familiar surroundings, the air, the feeling. I knew where we were now.

"Why- Are we in Mementos again?"

I headed out from the alleyway and tried to look for some sign of life around me. However, from the lack of life and noise, there was no one around. I wanted to laugh, why would I need to be back here again? Not even the cat was-

"Wait a minute, how did you enter the Metaverse without a phone?!"

"I don't know! I just- Wait, who..." The voice... Who on earth is talking?

...

Huh?! "What the hell?!"

There was something... There was a cat-like, anthropomorphic creature right in front of me that stood on its two back legs. It resembled the cat from earlier, albeit the head was grossly oversized, the yellow collar was now a bandana and it now had a utility belt around its waist.

It looked surprised as well, perhaps as much as I was.

And it had massive eyes, combined with that head its... It's actually still pretty cute.

Huh.

The cat creature suddenly looked panicked, staring at me then at its paws. "You- Are you another Persona-user?"

"Umm... Hello?" This was starting to get bizarre again. Another Persona-user? Was this thing one too? "What are you? A weird Shadow cat?"

"I-I'm not a Shadow!" It hissed. "I'm not a cat either! I am Morgana! I just- Agh! Never mind that, how did you enter the Metaverse?"

O-Okay then.

"Okay then, Morgana." Morgana, Morgana... Like, Morgana La Fey? "I'm not entirely sure if I should be telling you this stuff... Also, aren't you that cutie patootie from earlier that I fussed in the alleyway?"

"Yes! You give amazing fusses but- Mreow~"

I couldn't help myself from stroking between the ears of its oversized head, I couldn't feel its fur since it was wearing some type of mask over the upper half of its head, but it really didn't matter. It felt so fluffy~ And clearly the strange cat Morgana was enjoying this as well, it mewled into my hands, it's tail wagging like before.

"E-Enough, it feels good but please, stop~"

"I have skilful hands." I winked. "Your so adorable~"

I fucking loved cats. We never had one due to Leon's cat allergy but it never stopped me from visiting the strays that lived nearby. I know I should stop, but it was far too cute.

Morgana purred, clearly too much in bliss to actually care anymore as it rolled onto the ground purring ever so loudly.

Ah~ I could do this forever-

_Bzap!_

"Yeowch!"

Suddenly Morgana recoiled backwards as if he was shocked, slapping me away with its paws before scuttering back a few feet away from me on all fours with its hairs on end. He hissed, scratching at its head. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"I-I didn't do anything?"

"You zapped me!"

"Might have been static electricity."

"That didn't feel like- Never mind that, stop changing the subject!" Morgana yelled at me. "Are you a Persona-user?!"

Should... I tell him?

_"Yes. Play along."_

Alright then.

"If by Persona-user, you mean being able to summon a weird monster ghost, then yes, I can. Answer my question, where are we and why are you suddenly... Some anime mascot character?"

"You CAN use a Persona..." It mused to itself, thinking quietly. "And to answer your question, we're in the Metaverse, to be more specific, a Palace. Back in the real world, I saw you and I felt some strange resonance from you. So I had to follow you to confirm my suspicions. I just look like this here."

Huh.

"Well, your certainly not another hallucination," I muttered under my breath. "I just got my Persona yesterday after waking up in Mementos."

"You... Woke up in Mementos?"

"Yeah, it's a long story."

I stayed quiet, clearly not going to say any more on the subject.

"I see..."

Morgana paused, looking at its paws as if considering something.

"Tell me. Do you know why you're here?"

"Because Nyarly told me. My Persona."

"You too?" Morgana began mumbling something else under its breath. "So we're not the only ones then..."

_"Enough of this!"_

The world around me shifted for a moment, a black butterfly came into view, surprising Morgana before landing on my head.

_"Head back towards the shack. There is something you must be aware of."_

Stop ordering me around! Just give me a moment!

"Hey, er, Morgana?" I called out to the cat. "Do you mind following me for a moment? I need to see something." I didn't bother waiting for a response and immediately headed back towards the shack, the butterfly flying off and leading the way.

"Wait a minute, I'm not done talking you shorty!"

"I'm not fucking short you sack of shit!"

I ignored the cat, almost tempted to kick it in the face but continued onwards. Rest had to wait because apparently, this whole Palace ordeal was going to end up much more important than realised.

* * *

"Another Persona-user, huh..."

Morgana was surprised to find another one like them, one that had already awakened to his Persona nonetheless. He felt something strange when he passed the person on the streets, and he wasted no time tracking him down.

Even if he did leave Akira behind...

"I'll have to apologise to him later."

He had a resonance similar to the others, yet it had something that felt familiar to him as if he knew what it was. Even if it was wishing for too much, perhaps this guy was the key to finding his memories, unlikely, but he hoped.

Was... Was guy a Shadow? He felt like one.

Nyarly...

Nyarlatho...Tep?

...

He still wasn't sure why that name rang a bell in his mind, he still wasn't sure if this was a potential enemy or not.

And... That zap...

"Did he cast Marin Karin on me?"

It couldn't have been, he would have been under his control otherwise, unable to control his actions.

But he was feeling warm, uncomfortably so.

"Gah! How frustrating!"

And the stranger had moved on, he had to follow quickly before he lost him, before he lost potential information and the key to his past.

And who knows? Maybe he could join his team of thieves...

Morgana nodded to himself, suddenly filled with determination and headed onwards towards the Palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I sorta lied when I said the last chapter was the final chapter for a while. I suddenly had free time so I wrote this, however, there certainly won't be another in a while.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. In my opinion, the last segments felt a bit rushed but I hope it's still enjoyable. I'll try and sort the pacing some more in the future chapters.
> 
> More questions are coming followed by answers that will soon be... Well, answered.
> 
> Alright! That's all for now, I hope you all have a fantastic day/night!
> 
> Ciao~


	5. Palace of Envy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I finally upload and Haru gets laid cause he has no chill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO this took way too long. College was apart of it as well as some real-life stuff but the writing was just a pain, I've never actually done smut in first person before so this was a new experience. Also, the fucking description was a bitch to explain yet not overdo it, it's too long for my liking and I promise the appearance of a character will never be this long again I'm sorry.
> 
> Also the formatting may be slightly off, I was using Google docs this time around cause when I first started this chapter, I lost internet access and could only access the offline version and at college and was hella busy. It should still be readable tho, if there's mistakes like missing text, please tell me!
> 
> (Also my limited Spanish. And Japanese.)
> 
> Hope you enjoy it.

_Palace of Envy and Thieves_

_Begin Recording 596llp555-2 **.**_

_**.** _

_Envy._

_A grave sin that everyone has._

_To control envy requires reflection._

_Those in power._

_Will always envy others._

_For the thing's they could never accomplish._

_**.** _

_Loading... Loading... Loading..._

_Transistor Core offline._

_Commence playback._

_**.** _

They had gotten a call from a panicked Akira an hour ago, who asked them to meet in Shibuya for the reasons that Morgana had suddenly from his bag when he went to get some shopping for Sojiro and he had no idea where the cat went. Knowing how freaked out Akira could get without Morgana, they wasted no time heading to Shibuya.

 

Akira nodded, holding his crepe like a lifeline and accidentally crushing it. "I don't know where he is!" He looked like he was on the verge of breaking down. "He was with me for a minute and gone the next!"

 

Ryuji hummed, throwing his arm over the Akira’s shoulder to comfort him. "Man, that damn cat, leaving Akira like this."

 

"He wasn't stolen from the bag was he?"

 

"No, he just suddenly left saying that he wanted- He didn’t even say he wanted anything, just that he’ll be right back!"

 

"I have the sneaking suspicion that Morgana would be screaming his furry little head off for help as soon as someone poked him," Ryuji suggested, albeit it was quite hushed, before quickly sighing. "Maybe he saw some fish and left for a snack?"

 

Ryuji was trying to think of options that didn’t result in Morgana being kidnapped or some other, unsavoury option.

 

"I’m sure he’s fine.” Ann patted Akira’s back gently. “He’s a sly cat and is capable of protecting himself. I’m sure he’ll be back any minute now and go on about how great he is or how silly we were for worrying about him.”

 

"Nggghh!"

 

Akira gasped, suddenly standing up from his seat and looking around frantically. "He's here! I just felt him!"

 

Eh?

 

"You... Felt him? What?"

 

Both of them had no idea what he was on about. But a burst of overly confident laughter from nearby caught their attention, their eyes falling on the familiar black cat Morgana trotting up to them with a smirk on his cat face and a piece of unfamiliar fabric in his mouth that looked like a folded up bandana up close.

 

"Did you miss me?" Morgana's voice muffled from the cloth immediately rubbed his head against Akira's legs, acting completely innocent. However, Akira was smart and knew not to put up with the cat's bullshit and immediately picked up Morgana and almost crushed him in his grip. "M-Mreow- Mewww..."

 

"That's what you get for leaving Akira on his own without warning you stupid cat." Ryuji scolded. “Where the hell were you anyway?”

 

“I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to go for so long~ ” Morgana whined underneath Akira’s grasp. “But something great happened, I found another Persona-User guys!”

 

That certainly got their attention. Ryuji almost spat out his drink in surprise, choking on the fizzy contents as it burned the back of his nose. 

 

“Wait, you mean like…”  
  


“Someone with the same powers as us?”

 

The cat nodded vigorously. “I’m sorry I left like that, but I sensed him go by and Zorro seemed pretty riled up, I had to check him out.”

 

“...It’s a guy?”

 

Ann just stared at Akira dumbly. “That’s the thing that caught your attention?”

 

Akira just shrugged.

 

“So, where is he then?”

 

“He’s a bit occupied right now, I’ll tell you all in a bit, but we found another Palace.” Morgana dropped the cloth before Ann caught it and began to unfurl it, revealing a bandana with the word 愛 in the centre. “This is his, he’ll want it back but he’s giving it to us so he can spot us more easily when we meet up.”

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ryuji repeated multiple times to stop him from continuing. “Fill us all in first. Akira won’t forgive you otherwise.”

 

Akira nodded in response, his arms tensing to give a clear warning to the cat.

 

“Morgana,” Ann started. “Did you say you found another Palace?”

 

“Yep! He found it completely by accident and I was caught with him while we were being transported. He didn’t even use a phone!” They all raised a brow at that, curious. “I can tell you what happened on my end and...” Morgana shuddered. “Um, I’ll leave some parts out for you Lady Ann, it’s best that your ears stay innocent and pure.”

 

“..? O-Okay?”

 

* * *

Interesting.

 

There was a museum in front of me.

 

There was a shack there.

 

It's gone now.

 

And my brain felt like it was on fire.

 

Ever since I entered this place again, something inside of my head kept twitching and shifting about like there was a parasite in my brain that wanted out. As soon as we saw the lights off in the distance Nyarlathotep promptly disappeared, leaving me to do the rest and walk there by my lonesome.

 

Well, not really lonesome with the weird cat thing.

 

I felt hungry, the same weird type of hunger when I was near Madarame. But this time it made my heart hammer against my chest. It wasn't really my usual sexual appetite speaking, it was like... Well, it was something similar but it wasn't fear or the usual excitement. I still felt a tad horny, but I think that was just the norm at this point. I couldn't properly pin down what it was.  
  
It made the back of my head twitch.

 

And that bothered me immensely.

 

But ignoring that for the moment.

 

I walked for a good minute, until, in the distance, a building of hideous gold came into view, lit up by spotlights like it was a grand sight to behold.

 

Well, it certainly was. The building was massive, but it looked gaudy as fuck and the spotlights seemed to amplify that. So large and hideous it stood out from everything else in the area, like it was a reverse version of the shack.

 

A reverse version of the shack.

 

And just like the reverse shack, it was sure to catch anyone’s eye in the area.

 

Hmm, interesting.

 

"H-Hey! Wait up!"

 

Morgana hopped out towards me, a strange colouration of neon purple and pinks splashed out with each step. "Don't leave without me! We could be attacked by Shadows! And I can't risk fighting them off myself!"

 

"Ah- Right. Shadows." I muttered. I'm guessing this Morgana has a Persona as well… "Forgot about them. Anyway, is this the Palace thing?"

 

"That's right. It's like... A place that belongs to individuals distorted cognition, the source of these twisted desires that causes the individual to become warped is inside.” He nodded to himself, waving his tiny arms about. “This is indeed someone's Palace, I assume you know who it belongs to?" Morgana paused, looking at me with a strange look on its face. "Why is your outfit so weird?" 

 

"My clothes are just-"

 

Wait, hold on.

 

When did my clothes..?

 

When I looked at myself, no longer were my new clothes there, replaced by something akin to a visual mess consisting of a single... Jesus. It looked like I was wearing a revealing skin-tight, black- no my mistake, a very dark blue, latex leotard from how I was looking at it. Complete with a large chest window, two horizontal red stripes below the chest area that and two sets of shoulder pads on my, well, shoulders. My chest was completely out in the open for all to see and the material was just shy of showing my nipples off. The material clung to my arms as well, covering it all up to my wrists in the tight latex.

 

The only thing that covered some of my chest was a strange metal harness of sorts resting on my shoulders with a chain hanging from an open ringed section in the front section of the metal that went down to my navel and ended in a loop-

 

Actually, on closer inspection, it was more of a metal plate and less of an actual harness, completely solid with the exception of separated segments connected with chains under the shoulder pads to allow proper movement. 

 

And Jesus Christ the latex was crushing the fuck out of my junk. I can sorta stretch it, but if that snaps back too hard I’m gonna fucking regret it, it's either gonna cause me pain, give me a boner or both.

 

Fucking latex leotard... thing!

 

The lower half of the weird latex suit was just as strange. It looked like it was half possessed. There was a design depicting a swarm of black tendrils reaching for the upper half of the suit with golden scrollwork designs. And in the centre of my abdomen was a strange, oval-shaped mask design that was slowly being enveloped by the black tendrils. And the area hugging my crotch had a vertical design of a sharp-toothed grinning mouth that looked suspiciously zipper-like and looked out of place.

 

...And there was also a black utility belt hanging around my waist with a pair of bladed nunchucks and four pouches, filled with 4 glass vials and crystal clear syringe. Weird.

 

Hmm…

 

…

 

"H-Hey! I don't want to see that!"

 

…

 

Okay, not exactly a zipper, but I can open it like one. Though these new white gloves of mine made it slightly harder to get a decent grip. 

 

There was also a dark grey, hooded cape (or would that be a cloak?) which fell down to my knees. The inside of the cape was coloured crimson, each side had strange markings depicting an arm with four-fingered claws with a strange tattoo-like design on its hands.

 

Then... I had fishnet stockings, that were covered by boots. High heeled, thigh high leather boots with a colouration that had black, red and white diagonal stripes. I had assumed it was painted at first, but when I went down to touch it, I was quickly met with a transparent, cool gel-like material was covering it like a layer of sticky protection and whenever I tried to scoop some off, more quickly was quickly replaced. 

 

I sniffed the gel, it smelt like... Flavourless jelly. It sorta reminded me of slime, yet when I rubbed it between my fingers it felt like-

 

…

 

Oh my god.

 

I guess… Huh, really? If I really needed such a convenient thing, I highly doubt having it on my boots was a good idea at all. It’s just gonna get messy and other nasty filth gonna get stuck to it.

 

…

 

...Yeah~ Alright I’ll use it in the future maybe.

 

To be honest, I absolutely hated latex materials when it comes to wearing them. Sure it may have looked more appetising than normal to others (myself included) but it was so uncomfortable and suffocating on my skin to the point that I almost never use it especially on my fucking crotch area. 

 

This, however, wasn't as suffocating as it should have been.

 

But it was still fucking tight.

 

There was also something else I had noticed. 

 

My ass.

 

Besides the cape, there was nothing else covering it at all with the exception of a single thin strap between the cheeks. It was bare, naked to the outside world, like some sort of assless chaps, an ass window even and one of the only things to actually get some air from the latex prison besides my chest and head.

 

It made my ass look even more pronounced and bigger than it already was and made those pesky scars of mine stand out 24/7. I’m definitely gonna be getting some looks...

 

I spun around, nearly tumbling down from tripping over my own feet. And there was something on my face-

 

"What- Hey, what the fuck is this?"

 

Morgana looked at me, scanning my form with curiosity. "This is supposed to be your rebellious form given to by your Persona, I know a beautiful lady who has quite the alluring skin-tight outfit like yours.” I really wouldn’t call this design alluring. “But yours seems strange. There’s a lot going on but it doesn’t really clash well."

 

And pretty ugly too. It was like someone fused multiple designs together. I guess there could be some appeal to it if I tried super hard.

 

And… There was something heavy on my back, under my cloak.

 

…

 

Oh my gosh, that’s a rifle. It was a sniper rifle, black and gold. It was holstered by nothing and other than that, it was just a regular sniper rifle whose brand I didn’t recognise.

 

And my face...

 

There was a metal mask on my face as well. It looked similar to the one that on my face yesterday however with the addition of red that connected the two halves together (or that was there before and I just forgot), the one I used to summon Nyarlathotep. And now that I had a better look at it, it was vaguely butterfly-shaped.

 

More butterfly motifs. Great.

 

And when I felt around my neck-

 

..?! No way. This was my old choker, I thought that was still at the house! It was a simple black leather choker that looked more like a collar with a metal circle ring in the centre, an O-ring to be more exact. This was my last memento of mother-

 

...

 

Why did I suddenly have this? There was no way Nyarlathotep knew about this, did he?

 

So, in combination with the latex leotard (or the sheer amount of latex AND leather everything), the way it hugged my crotch, the low cut boob window, the metal leash, the ass hanging out and the fucking _lube boots_.

 

I looked like I came out of some really weird fetish party.

 

…

 

Actually, speaking of the asshole, didn't Morgana say that this outfit is given by my Persona? That fucking-

 

"NYARLATHOTEP!"

 

My mask erupted into flames and I almost dropped to one knee as I felt the energy suddenly be drained from me as the asshole himself erupted from behind my back, scaring the shit out of Morgana.

 

The bastard laughed. **_"Ah yes... I thought you would appreciate the look for someone as... Loose as you are. You would enjoy the company of a few bodies."_ **

 

"That's why?!" 

 

I mean, he’s not exactly wrong but come on!

 

“At least give me something that’s more comfortable for me to wear! I hate wearing latex, especially for long periods!”

 

The eldritch being crossed his deformed arms over its chest, seemingly pleased. **“Please, you need the energy, after all, you should appreciate what I am doing for you. Even if your uniform ended up being a rushed project...”**

 

"What on earth?!"

 

Meanwhile, Morgana was still shocked at the sight.

 

Nyarlathotep actually looked a tad different from before now that I got a closer look at him. He no longer had the sharp angel wings from before, now he had a single large tentacle-like appendage that was black at its base before becoming a dark to a lighter green as it neared it's two ended tip. Green membrane under the tentacle showed that it was quite obviously a wing. But only one wing, oddly enough.

 

There was also another appendage I had noticed, one that was clearly a tail in design with a three-finger claw at the end from what I could see and was longer than his body.

 

Clearly, he aspired to be a deformed, one-winged angel.

 

But why was he-

 

"Well, as much as I like the- Never mind that, why latex?!"

 

**_“I thought it would look more appealing to others, in fact, I even planned on giving you what you call a ‘lace garter belt’ for an alternate version and even made some modifications to further help your needs.”_ **

 

I-

 

I can’t believe he’s helping me get laid.

 

“...Garter belts you say?

 

And he’s already gotten my attention.

 

He didn’t look impressed, but continued with his-

 

**_"Hmph, I see we have a visitor, señorito."_ **

 

The cat let out a shocked hiss as a large figure formed behind him. It was a decently large Persona, just a big as Nyarlathotep but even bulkier. It looked like an extremely top-heavy man in black with arms and hands as thick as trees holding a rapier much too short for its thick hands. And around its waist was a massive belt with an even bigger silver 'Z' shining proudly. His face hidden behind a strange mask that didn't conceal its bright yellow sclera.

 

Morgana looked up at his Persona in shock. "Z-Zorro?!"

 

Nyarlathotep scoffed. **_"I have no quarrel with you. I merely desire the Treasure in the Palace."_ **

 

 ** _"The Crawling Chaos that desires the distorted thoughts of an individual is an omen of evil, demonio I will make sure that you are put in your place!"_** Zorro drew his rapier, leaving a noticeable 'Z' mark in its path. **_"I shall defeat you even if it costs my life!"_**

 

Wait, what?!

 

"Zorro?!" Morgana yelped. "What are you doing?! Stop it! Your draining-"

 

 **_"Señorito Morgana... My apologies, but this is a dangerous individual and..."_ ** _Zorro paused, his eyes becoming shocked._ **_"What? Such a weak signature. Was the Crawling Chaos truly this weak?"_ **

 

What…

 

 **_"I will not repeat myself, Persona."_ ** Nyarlathotep hissed. **_"I have no quarrel with you. The Treasures are much more important to me than your presence here, they are needed for things to prevent a truly dire future."_ **

 

**_"...I am not inclined to believe you. However... I suppose you noticed the distorsión in the collective unconscious as well?"_ **

 

Ngh... Why do I feel so weak? It feels like... I'm being... Drained?

 

 **_"Distortions, you say? Do you refer to the cog in God's machine?"_ ** There was a strange look in his eye, which narrowed before he continued in a hushed tone. **_"But regardless, there are much more worrying matters we will need to discuss, and we will have to acquire the Treasures-"_ **

 

"N-NGggh!"

 

Nyarlathotep let out a screech, dissipating into nothingness and suddenly the draining halted, leaving me a panting weakened pile on the floor with a heart that felt like someone had strained all of the blood out of it. It ached like a bitch.

 

And oh boy, it did not want to leave.

 

I guess he really was right when he mentioned me being unable to use him for a longer period of time. Dammit, I'm such a fucking idiot to have forgotten that.

 

"H-Hey!" Zorro had also disappeared, leaving Morgana on his own. "Are you okay?"

 

No, not really, I felt extremely exhausted. Thanks for that by the way, you eldritch asshole.

 

 _"Why are you blaming me for your mistakes?"_ He scoffed. _"You were the one who summoned me."_

 

"E-Exhausted," I muttered out. "Nyarlathotep really drains me, especially for long periods." I would assume. "He makes me feel... Light?"

 

My body felt lighter than it should be. Didn't he mention something about my body dispersing if I used him for too long?

 

Shit.

 

Gotta be careful next time.

 

"Guess you were right when you said your Persona talked as well. But he seems to be more draining on you than me and the others… At least I know your human." Morgana mumbled the last part to himself, just barely loud enough for me to hear. Before I could question him, he hopped by me towards the massive museum before stopping before a white van. "Whose Palace is this anyway?"

 

I was… Half tempted not to answer.

 

“Madarame’s.”

 

The cat’s eyes narrowed, scratching its oversized head in thought. “Mada...Rame? I’ve never heard of them before.”

 

“Apparently he’s a world-famous artist, even if I never heard of him till yesterday. From what I’ve heard he’s been plagiarising others for his own work.” I followed Morgana to the side of the truck. There was a group of guards wearing heart-shaped masks by the entrance, casually having conversation with each other. However, there was a strange familiarity about them that immediately tipped me off.

 

It felt more… Belonging.

 

“Are those Shadows?”

 

But it didn’t feel quite right. They didn’t feel like those from Mementos. These ones felt… Closed off, almost.

 

“Yep, these ones seem to be the guards of the Palace.” Morgana noted, peeking its head to check out the entrance again. “Hmm… I will admit though, I am rather curious of why Zorro seemed so aggressive all of a sudden, and why your Persona is looking for Treasures.”

 

“That is a good question actually.”

 

_“For something important I assure you, nothing you need to worry about at the time being. But I will tell you this, the ‘Treasure’ is located deep within this Palace and I need it, which is why you will be helping me do so.”_

 

Your leaving me heavily out of the loop here, what on earth is a fucking Treasure and what exactly is a Palace? I’ve heard it from Incubus before and-

 

“Excuse me? May I ask why you are stalking around here like a pair of virgin thieves?”

 

The sudden voice scared the shit out of me and Morgana, almost making me yell out when I went to turn around only to be greeted by a lady in an assistant’s wear, she had pitch-black skin and a heart-shaped mask like the guards. And just like the guards, I could tell she too was a Shadow. And it wasn’t just from the strange feeling, something felt slightly different.

 

It was similar to the Shadow’s in Mementos, yet almost… Repressed, somehow.

 

_“Priestess.”_

 

..? 

 

“Gah! A Shadow!”

 

The female Shadow’s body twitched at Morgana’s voice as if entering a threatening stance and about to strike. I couldn’t help myself from speaking up, to try and calm the humanoid Shadow down.

 

“Oh! Sorry about that!” I chuckled nervously, about to lie through my teeth. “I was looking for a friend. He’s got blue hair, tall and is very handsome. Have you seen anyone like that?”

 

The Shadow stopped twitching, only staring at me through the mask silently.

 

Morgana held its mouth shut with his paws, watching silently and trying not to speak up.

 

After a moment of complete and awkward silence, she finally spoke up.

 

“...Oh? My apologies, I thought you were an intruder, and no, I haven’t seen this friend of yours.” The Shadow seemed to have noticed something. “Are you one of the special guards Lord Madarame had recruited? I don’t recognise you.”

 

Ah, she seemed to have calmed down. That’s good, the distraction is working. Let’s see what I can get out of her.

 

“Yes, I’m one of the, er, new guards.” I racked my brain for something credible, something that won’t get me caught instantly. “I’ve been told that there’s been some trouble due to the exhibit starting soon, is that right?”

 

She nodded. “That is correct, it seems you don’t need to be filled in entirely. There have been some thieves scurrying about that made off with one of the art pieces not too long ago. So we’ve had to increase security.” She peeked over my shoulder, looking at Morgana. “Were you dealing with this intruder just now? It seems docile.”

 

“Oh, him?” My eyes met his, and we both seemed to struggle on what to do about this situation. “I was just leading him out now actually. He’s harmless, just a little curious is all.”

 

“Hmm, Lord Madarame does have a beautiful museum, I wouldn’t blame this creature for being so enchanted by such majesty.” She chuckled to herself. “I can see him out. Go back to your position.”

 

“No, no it's fine! I can do it.”

 

“Please, I insist.”

 

Meanwhile, Morgana was looking on curiously. He’s acting like he’s never seen the Shadows suddenly turn docile like this just before attacking.

 

Hmm… Well. I’m not aggressive to strangers on sight, the Incubus didn’t really mean any harm and that Archangel can fuck right off. So, it depends on the individual? Probably?

 

“I caused the noise, so I should at least try and make up for it.”

 

Then the gates of chatty hell opened.

 

I have no idea what had happened next. At first, we were going back and forth about who was going to escort Morgana out, however, a minute or two had somehow passed and now the Shadow was making small talk with me.

 

How did we get to this point, you may ask? Fuck if I know, I don’t even think Morgana is even here anymore. I think he left a minute after confirming she was distracted enough. Asshole.

 

“-And yeah, I play the guitar in my spare time and tinker with metal but that’s all about me really.”

 

“Such an interesting thing you are!” She giggled to herself, seemingly pleased. “I would love to hear more from you. Can I ask some more questions?”

 

Well- ah fuck it.

 

_“Are you already smitten with her?”_

 

Shut it asshat.

 

“So… I’ve never seen anything quite like you before.” The female Shadow noted. “You seem quite different from the rest of us, what are you?”

 

“I’m… Just like you all, a Shadow.”

 

She seemed extremely curious at that, I couldn’t tell if she was suspicious or not.

 

“Hmm. You seem like one, but you feel different somehow.” She edged up closer to me, taking my hand into her own and examining it close to her masked face. “Not entirely a Shadow… And yet at the same time-”

 

_Bzap!_

 

Something in me twitched and the Shadow recoiled backwards in shock, holding her hand and hissing slightly as if she received a sharp jolt. Before I could ask what had happened, she suddenly chuckled, the mask on her face turning and shade darker before becoming a lighter pink.

 

“Oh my! I can feel quite the energy reading from you! Such an eager individual!”

 

“Um, thank you?”

 

What?

 

She held my hand for a moment before-

 

_Bzap!_

 

?!! What the fuck, what shocked me?!

 

The Shadow, on the other hand, was giggling to herself like a girl on her way to her date to a five-star restaurant with a hot dude, she felt completely different than before. She felt more bubbly, actually.

 

“Oh my! Everyone else feels so… Plain compared to you! I can practically taste the lust dripping from your form. I can tell you were created with one thing in mind, like those Succubi and Incubi that visit occasionally.”

 

O-Okay. The Shadow seemed suddenly weak in the knees, and I wondered for the briefest of seconds that it was just because she felt tired. 

 

But… Maybe not. Shit, was I seriously gonna be finding the thing I needed to satisfy myself? If so, goddamn I’m lucky today.

 

“I’m still on break for the next hour.” I assumed the Shadow winked behind her mask, yet her voice was slowly becoming more uncertain as she continued. “You want to find a more… Private place? I’m feeling somewhat... Unfulfilled and I need some... Help, with that.”

 

Oh.

 

My.

 

God.

 

FUCK.

  
  
**YES.**

 

Praise the Gods above, I’m actually getting laid tonight from unexpected sources. And maybe if I ask-

 

“Maybe… But I am a simple fellow who likes a pretty lady who leads, is that alright with you?”

 

“Are you asking me to top?” She seemed flabbergasted. “Seriously?”

 

“Please?”

 

She seemed pleased with that.

 

“I would love too! It’s not every day I meet someone like you. But…” She seemed suddenly hesitant, holding onto my hand again whilst upholding a flirty tone. “I am a tad inexperienced with these sorts of matters, so I hope you don’t mind me going simple and perhaps a tad slow? I want to explore as much as possible… So don’t expect me to be too dominant for the first time.”

 

YES.

 

“I don’t mind, I can guide you if you want, just take your time and-”

 

“Ngh?!”

 

The Shadow’s body suddenly convulsed, letting out a shocked gasp before she fucking _melted_ into a black sludge, something new suddenly erupted from the puddle before stretching. It was a pretty lady with light blue skin and darker blue hair that looked like it was wrapped up in a bun. She wore a tight white leotard and had a semi-transparent cloth wrapped around her waist.

 

Her golden eyes stared into mine, confusion, slight fear and eagerness all bundled inside.

 

And I wasn’t even shocked anymore. I was too desensitized to everything that’s happened the past two days.

 

This was fucking happening.

 

 **“Oh, this feeling… I am Apsaras, I resided within the sea of humanity’s souls like many others.”** The Shadow, Apsaras, smiled before bowing. **“Please take care of me.”**

 

Heh.

 

I returned her bow with barely contained excitement. 

 

“Haru. Please take care of me also.” 

 

“..? What is this?”

 

There were paintings all around Morgana as he dusted his paws off from the rope, all of them were faceless people he didn’t recognise that shimmered and warped like the portraits themselves were alive. The paintings made him feel cautious like they would reach out and attack at any second. 

 

He had left the other guy on his own, something he somewhat regretted now. However, the sensations of nearby Treasure set of the switch in Morgana’s brain, and the mystery guy seemed fine with that enemy Shadow and Zorro refused to stay too long with him, something he desperately wanted answers for but Zorro never responded to his questions. 

 

Very few things could get the Persona could talk, but even then he was a man of few words. So it was surprising hearing Zorro talk so much regarding… Narlatep? Nyanthop? Nyar-

 

“Gah! Never mind that now!”

 

That was a name he couldn’t pronounce.

 

But ignoring that, this Palace looked interesting, and didn’t have the extremely oppressive atmosphere that Kamodshida’s did, which was surprising, but Morgana heavily appreciated it. He didn’t appreciate the irritating warmth he still felt in his stomach, however.

 

Oh! And, AND!

 

He could practically feel the sweet scent of delicious Treasure!

 

He was pumped! He couldn’t wait to steal it! 

 

Well, that was his feelings at first.

 

But, now that he focused, it felt awfully close for some reason. As if it was in the next room over. But of course, it wouldn’t be that easy right? No Treasure would be that close unless the Palace was an absolute mess from distortions. And the latter didn’t seem to be the case.

 

“Come on, move it!”

 

A guard’s loud voice came from one of the rooms and grabbed his attention as a chorus of apologies followed shortly after. Morgana edged closer to the doorway and listened out carefully whilst concealing himself in the shadows.

 

“We need to move the Treasure deeper in the Museum, we’ve already risked enough with the Black Mask as it is!”

 

Black Mask?

 

He’s never seen or heard about such a person before. Were they referring to another thief or was it just apart of this Madarame’s cognition?

 

Briefly, Morgana saw a transparent haze disappear.

 

“Have the new guards unit been assigned yet?”

 

“They’re being assigned right now, now hurry up, the lot of you!”

 

“Yes, sir!”

 

The footsteps and voices slowly faded out till they disappeared, however, Morgana stayed still and silent for a minute before moving from his position. He looked on from where the guards were, still silent in thought.

 

As much as he wanted to explore some more, he’s learned the hard way that exploring Palaces on his own was dangerous. While he could use the stranger’s help, he doubted that they could do it on their own. This was going to be another job for the Phantom Thieves.

 

Plus, he also just left the stranger on his own. Hopefully, he was alright and if he was attacked he would have heard the commotion by now. He seemed to have had everything under control. Even for someone with such a strange… Resonance.

 

 ** _“It is no excuse,_** **_Señorito Morgana, you should never leave someone behind in such a dangerous place…”_**

 

“I know, I know! But he felt-” He whimpered, feeling a sharp pain against his head. Zorro huffed, disappearing back into his mind. ”...Alright, I better head back then.”

 

And perhaps apologise to the stranger.

 

A teacher shouldn’t leave a potential student behind after all!

 

* * *

 

 **“Hmm. You’re so human, like Lord Madarame, even down there!”** She giggled earlier as I showed her the stupidity of my uniform, unzipping the mouth on my crotch before bringing my dick out and the whole thing made her laugh. It looked like a mouth with a dick for a tongue, I fucking hated this thing. I would much prefer regular old clothes over this weird… Latex hell.

 

_“Enough of your complaining. I need to see this.”_

 

Only if you zip it! I don’t want to hear your voice, of all people, during this you weirdo.

 

_“Hmph.”_

 

I was half tempted to take the whole thing off, however after the quick realisation that taking the damn thing off was going to be more trouble than it was worth. My mask, however, was still on my face, a quick mental slap from Nyarlathotep made me hiss if I attempted to even touch it.

 

So that too had to stay on.

 

 **“Average as well…”** Now she was straddling me, examining my lower half like she was trying to figure out how to make a clock work. Prodding my dick with her index finger and watching me twitch with a smirk, she retracted her hand. **“That’s good at least. Though I’m not really in the mood for… Actual penetration.”**

 

That’s great actually, I have no idea how Shadows work so I have no clue if pregnancy or sexual diseases were actually a thing, so I can play it somewhat safe at the very least.

 

Well, if we’re doing oral, we’ll still be risking it regardless...

 

“Hey now, even the smallest one can rock your world under the right wielder.”

 

 **“Are you perhaps speaking from experience?”** Her hands trailed underneath my clothes, struggling to get underneath the somewhat tight material.

 

I just winked. “Perhaps~”

 

I’ll let her imagination play out a bit at least.

 

 **“Aren’t you the tease?”** Her hands were like ice against my skin, wandering just above my groin as she pressed down, immediately getting rewarded with a quiet grunt from me. **“If you keep that up, I’ll have no choice but-”**

 

She paused, thinking for a moment.

 

“No choice but to what?” I coaxed, “Teach me a lesson? C’mon~ I’m underneath you now, all at your mercy, it’d be quite easy to make me beg.”

 

Apsara’s looked at me with surprise, clearly not expecting my response. Then, slowly, she suddenly burst out in laughter again.

 

 **“I like people such as you, cute, compliant and so submissive...”** Her hands were cold when she touched my skin just above my member, sending a shivering jolt up my spine that made me gasp. **“Was that good?”**

 

“Mmmhmm.” I nodded, letting out a happy sigh. “Cold is good in my opinion. Better than the heat.”

 

**“Are you weak to fire? I could never handle electricity at all.”**

 

I didn’t answer her (or I didn’t know how to answer her), I was too focused on her hands which began to trail around my front, fiddling with my ribs, poking at my toned belly. She seemed quite interested in just exploring, and to be honest, that was fine with me so-

 

“Ngh!”

 

Oh fuck.

 

 **“Oh?”** Her hand had brushed against one of my nipples and didn’t even wait for my response before she tugged on them b-both. The noises that escaped my mouth was absolutely embarrassing. 

 

She found my weakness so quickly, I could feel my hips bucking-

 

**“Yoink!”**

 

Ngh!

 

Fuck, I won’t last long if she keeps up.

 

She giggled at my reactions, watching me squirm underneath her. **“How adorable! It seemed like you became a little more eager down there when I do,”** Oh fuck, oh fuck! **“This!”**

 

Her skin was like ice against my own, the contrast against the warmth shocked me greatly.

 

 **“How sensitive…”** She seemed so intrigued even as I almost kicked out at her from the pleasurable jolts, causing her to grab one of my legs to hold me firmly in place, instead, causing me to buck forward. **“Hm~ I’ve always liked the idea of naked partners willing to bare it all for me, it makes them look so cute and absolutely delectable. I wish I could gobble you up!”**

 

“Thank you, but I’m sorry to disappoint that I’m not really into v-vore.”

 

She chuckled for a moment, a sudden burst of pleasure in my stomach suddenly made itself known as she quickly grasped my already erect dick in her hand, but she pulled away as soon as my hips bucked forward again.

 

Dammit, she’s playing the long game, if she keeps up we’re going to get caught-

 

 **“You can touch me too you know.”** She interrupted my thoughts, grabbing one of my hands before pulling it to her breasts still hidden underneath her leotard and I immediately complied to her demands.

 

**“Oh!”**

 

Oh~ Oh, that’s soft.

 

Soft and squishy. 

 

Jeez, when was the last time I touched a lady like that? It must have been a few months at least… Man, just thinking that makes me really sad, I know I’ve had other more… Rowdy, company, but still.

 

..?

 

Even as I brushed my fingers against her clothes, for the life of me I couldn’t feel anything that felt remotely like a nipple, it was like I was feeling up a mannequin and for a moment, I thought she was just softened up but…

 

Where the fuck are her nipples? 

 

 **“Oh? Are you so mesmerised by such a normal thing?”** Apsara’s asked, clearly amused. **“Or were you lying about being e-experienced?”**

 

“Why would I lie about that?”

 

**“You would be surprised by the number of teenagers that resort to desperate measures, males mostly too from what I have seen. Humans, in general, seem to be the biggest offender.”**

 

“Eh, you do have a point there,” Apsara’s let out a quiet moan as my hands pushed into her chest, gently trying to massage a proper response out of her. “It's been a while since I’ve been with a pretty lady, so I might be rusty.“ I did get a proper response via a playful slap to my hands and a chuckle. 

 

 **“Hmm, I think I shall take charge, I want as much of your needy desires as possible.”** She licked her lips. **“So please-”**

 

Oh!

 

**“Just relax.”**

 

Oh, fuck. That felt really good. 

 

She quickly went back to exploring my body but still had a firm grasp on my leg, leaving my chest alone for the meantime and once more her cold body made me shiver. However, she suddenly paused, a look of realisation and confusion evident on her face.

 

**“What is… What’s vore?”**

 

“Something impossible to do.” 

 

She didn’t actually register what I said, did she?

 

**“I would like to try-”**

 

“No, you’re fucking not.

 

She seemed incredibly disheartened at my words.

 

 **“Very well then. What a foul mouth you have.”** Her expression wrinkled. **“What a shame for someone so pretty.”**

 

Oi.

 

 **“You have a nice body, nicely toned and a firm belly… It’s just a shame that your mouth is foul, otherwise, I would like to experiment with something else.”** Something, for a split second, sparked in her eyes. **“But, I will admit… I like the idea of someone’s foul mouth being occupied.”**

 

..?

 

Oh!

 

Yeah, I knew what she wanted and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning like an absolute fool in that process of realisation.

 

“What are you waiting for then?” I licked my lips to try and entice her. "Why don't you shut me up, punish me for being so foul-mouthed?"

 

I was pushing my luck here.

 

But of course, if I needed to get what I want, risk-taking had to be done.

 

And I always succeed.

 

Apsara’s just smiled at me, readjusting herself before moving back away from me and sitting down, peeling off the bottom part of her leotard covering her crotch and moved it to the side, revealing an ever so lovely dark blue, glistening vulva. It was such a unique sight, I couldn’t help but stare.

 

I also moved, getting onto my knees and waited patiently for her signal.

 

But, she looked incredibly slick already and quite giddy, stretching her legs apart and revealed more of herself to me. It looked so good, it looked like a completely ‘normal’ labia people would see in magazines and the like, neat, tidy, clean. 

 

And that sight before me made my cock throb.

 

**“This feels quite strange, I never thought it would feel like t-this!”**

 

I couldn’t help myself. My mind was in too deep to think of the consequences.

 

I had immediately moved forward, burying my face into her welcoming muff and being greeted by the warmth and slick that coated it. My suddenness made her gasp, however, said gasp was quick to turn into a moan when I pushed my tongue against her clit.

 

…?

 

This was just water-

 

But before I could go any further, something grabbed my hair, harshly pulling it back and causing me to grunt. Me and her met eye to eye and she didn’t look too pleased… Yet, there was mirth in those eyes as well. 

 

 **“Bad boy.”** She scolded. **“I didn’t say you could have a taste yet, did I?”**

 

“S-Sorry.”

 

She didn’t look convinced.

 

 **“...Get onto your back again and keep your gloves on.”** She ordered which I quickly followed, once again on my back before she crawled above me. **“I hope you enjoy punishments.”**

 

“What- Mmmff!”

 

I was instantly smothered, overwhelmed by a weight that planted itself on my face before once again becoming overwhelmed with a moist warmth. Apsara’s had plonked herself on top of me with her slit directly above my mouth and, upon realising it, I once again started to indulge myself.

 

It was water.

 

There was no strange taste or smell, it just smelled and tasted just like spring water albeit with a thicker consistency. It was… Weird. Regardless, I held onto her butt and continued forward, gently sucking and prodding at her clit.

 

Despite how weird it was, I knew I would get used to it and the way she gripped my hair just enticed me more, summoning a grunt from my mouth before I went further in.

 

**“Hmm, do you enjoy having your hair pulled?”**

 

Grunting in agreement, I tried to nod despite the weight.

 

**“Dirty thing, how about you please me more and I’ll happily pull again.”**

 

And I did exactly that.

 

As I continued to play and toy with her clit, Apsara’s would shudder and make the cutest of gasps as she pulled my hair, the vibrations of my grunts made her even tenser as she was before, practically riding against my face that felt like a soft glide with the combination of spit and slick. She was incredibly quiet as well, I had noticed, trying to hush herself from making loud noises by biting her lips whilst her cheeks had a tinge of pink to them as she rocked back and forth against my mouth, almost trembling above me as my tongue lowered and explored past her folds before retreating back out.

 

And she already felt so slick already, I could feel the moisture almost thicken and drip onto my mouth. But I sorta wished she could stay in one place while I help her along, my tongue and teasing almost kept missing her as she rode me towards orgasm.

 

I couldn’t blame her in the slightest, I was doing my best to focus on her and not on my own needs at the moment, despite the desperate throb and pressure between my legs.

 

And her grip was strong… The way she kept pulling on my hair-

 

Ngh!

 

Oh fuck this felt good. If not for the pleasure, the budding happiness and pride in my chest made me realise I still hadn’t entirely lost my touch despite my rustiness.

 

**“You- Ngh! You really have... Done this before, haven’t y-you?”**

 

Her expression was that of a lusty smile, one that was even lustier when my hands trailed and teased up her skin, drawing the lightest circles possible before heading back to her chest. Apsara’s just grinned, pushing against my still gloved hands and urging me to massage them.

 

She continued to buck against my face in the meantime, almost smothering both my mouth and nose at the same time at some points as my tongue pushed back inside of her, her inner walls tasted like spring water and the hum of approval only continued to become louder and louder until my tongue finally found her g-spot.

 

Then, it was a squeak and a spasm.

 

Ah… Did she finish already?

 

She jolted above me, shaking and straightening out and pushing all of her weight against me and almost suffocating me in the process. The trembling of her thighs pressed against my cheeks and I could already taste the steady stream of her slickness slipping down my throat.

 

Despite her quick orgasm, I continued to play with her engorged clit and slick folds, ignoring her tightening grip on my scalp and teased her further with an inward grin until I knew she was coming down from her high-

 

**“E-Enough!”**

 

..?!

 

I immediately stopped, fearing I went too far and looked up to see her still biting her lip and still shaking. She patted my forehead, slowly retreating off my face and tried to stand back up, moving to the side to allow me movement.

 

 **“I’m incredibly sensitive right now, any more and I might lose it for real.”** Her voice was somewhat raw, pushing my forehead as I leaned forward, almost knocking me back down. **“But, that felt good. It was my first time but I could tell you knew what you were doing. Are you sure your not an Incubus in a human flesh suit?”**

 

An incubus in a human flesh… You know what I’m not even gonna respond to that last bIT!

 

The sensation of her cool hand suddenly grasping my phallus almost made me jolt, quickly replaced by an incredibly lewd moan from my mouth which I quickly covered as Apsara’s looked at me with a smile and quickly began to jerk me off.

 

**“Adorable… Let me hear your voice, okay?”**

 

“N-Nooo~”

 

She didn’t care, pushing me back down and blocking my view of what she was doing to me, however the constant feeling of the force of friction not of my own hand rapidly sliding up and down my cock made me whimper and I already felt pathetically close as those strings of nerves in my stomach were plucked all at once.

 

I was already on the breaking point.

 

 **“Close already? Oh my… ”** I could feel her tongue brush against my head and I desperately wanted to see it, so, so much. **“You got off from pleasuring me? How sweet of you. Your hearts are glowing such a lovely shade of pink, it’s adorable. ”**

 

“I’m- I’m already-”

 

**“Shushhh… Just let go. I’m right here to finish you off.”**

 

And she finished me quickly.

 

_“..?!”_

 

I came shortly after her words. My whole body shuddered and tensed, bucking my hips forward with each spurt and brief wave of pleasure released from the building tension before my legs quickly went limp at her sides.

 

The quick sensations almost caused me to blackout. And when I came too I almost burst out laughing when I saw Apsara’s face, a spurt of my cum had apparently gotten onto her cheek and looked quite adorably peeved. However, she noticed an escaped giggle, wiping the cum off her face with her index and middle finger before abruptly shoving it into my mouth with little to no warning. 

 

She must have expected me to reel back in disgust. However, her expression had adopted into one of surprise as I quietly started to lick her fingers clean of the salty fluids before she quickly retracted them back, leaving a trail of saliva connecting her fingers and my mouth.

 

I shot her one of my sultry looks, dipping my fingers in and cleaning them dry and flicking what little saliva was left away into the bushes.

 

She looked quite impressed, though I could detect a curious, analytical look behind her eyes.

 

 **“Hmm… You’re more of a succubus than what I was expecting.”** She wiped her fingers with a tired sigh, watching how I plonked myself back on the ground completely spent with her following suit. **“You really sapped my energy away.”**

 

_“Disgusting. Even I could feel that spike of pleasure.”_

 

Oh, whatever. Zip it and let me have my moment, damn it.

 

My muscles were relaxed, and I felt so… So sleepy.

 

I was quite tempted to rest actually, and judging by how tired Apsara’s looked and her previous, it was safe to assume she needed a rest too. Of course, it was dangerous to be out like this, but maybe we could have a quick five-minute break before I needed to leave. And maybe ask if Yusuke had a shower/bathtub I could use.

 

**“That was quite fun, Haru. I wouldn’t mind doing it with you again. Maybe you could teach me some tricks in the future?”**

 

“Er, sure I don’t mind.”

 

But I would need to come back… Urgh, it would be fine if I didn’t have to worry about that damn cat popping up from the shadows to scare me-

 

…

 

Wait.

 

Where was the cat?

 

“WHAT IN THE WORLD?!”

 

...Oh, there he is!

  
  
The cat creature Morgana had the expression of someone’s who’s seen the worst in the universe and kept his mind somehow intact. His eyes went cartoonishly white in disgust and his cheeks went red in the embarrassment of seeing such a… Compromising sight.

 

He quickly looked away, covering his eyes to avoid the terrifying sight.

 

“Ew, ew! Why were you- That’s so gross, it's never gonna leave my eyes ever again! My brain!”

 

“Cat!” I hissed, scowling at the asshat who left me. “Do you mind?! I’m in the middle of something!”

 

“Why- Why are you doing that to the Shadows?!”

 

God, he’s practically screeching.

 

“...Cause I had an itch?”

 

“An itch?!”

 

Apsara’s chuckled. **“How adorable, is the cute little feline shocked by something so natural? He must be quite the innocent one if this-”** She motioned towards our sweaty bodies. **“Scares him.”**

 

“Eh, I think it's more of an ‘a time and place thing’ to be honest.”

 

 **“Perhaps…”** She paused for a moment, sighing to herself before pushing herself back up, wincing from her still sensitive clit and wobbly legs. **“I appreciate this, however, I must leave for my shift. Lord Madarame’s Palace must be defended from all intruders, after all, this is a thieving hotspot. Especially with those who call themselves the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. That lot have already ransacked the castle nearby.”**

 

Aww. I knew this was coming, but still…

 

“That’s fine. I might be gone for a few days though, just a heads up.”

 

**“And that is perfectly fine, as long as I see you again I’ll happily wait. Maybe I’ll show you another good time.”**

 

Hehehe~

 

“Looking forward to it~”

 

She promptly left afterwards, turning back into the shadowy figure she was previously before disappearing into the Palace entrance.

 

Then… Silence.

 

Morgana just stared at me, flabbergasted.

 

“This- This place is incredibly dangerous!” He hissed, running up to me and slapping my side and purposely adjusting his gaze away from my crotch. “It’s filled with bloodthirsty Shadows who are ready to defend this place with their lives and your first idea to deal with one was to sleep with it?!”

 

“Well, Morgana, you left me on my own! And clearly, your experience here has also made you better at combat so you could have helped me take her on!”

 

“I-I’ll apologise for that! But- AGHHH! My eyes! How will I ever face Lady Ann again?!”

 

“Lady… Ann?”

 

“Er, I mean Panther! Gah,” Before I could call him out, he quickly continued and cut me off, eager to switch topics. “Anyway, now that I know there’s a Palace, me and my team can steal the Treasure-”

 

“Wait, hold up.”

 

Now it was my turn to interrupt.

 

“Listen, you clearly know about Palaces more than I do and these Treasures, correct?” He nodded. I carefully chose my next words, trying to understand as much as possible. “So… Keeping it short and if I indeed got this right, what would happen if the Treasure were to be stolen?”

 

Morgana nodded. “Ah, have you heard of the Phantom Thieves?”

 

I pondered that for a moment, before shaking my head in the negative. Apsara’s mentioned them briefly but beyond that, there was nothing I could recall.

 

“I’m a member of our little gang and keeping it short as you asked, we steal the hearts of corrupt individuals. Though to be more specific, we steal their Treasures by entering Palaces.”

 

Alright, alright, I’m with him so far. Morgana looked around, most likely keeping an eye on our surroundings.

 

“Treasures are the sources of a person’s distorted desire and depending on how distorted they are, they form these Palaces. If you steal the Treasure in a specific way, the source of these distortions will go away and the person will no longer have it clouding their minds… However, they should gain a better conscious and, unable to bear the weight of their sins, confess their crimes to the whole world and hand themselves in!”

 

That… That sounded incredibly interesting.

 

“So it’s a cognitive science type of deal?”

 

He seemed pleased with that. “Exactly! Honestly I’m not entirely sure how it works myself, but this was what we got from previous results.”

 

“And by changing Madarame’s heart-”

 

“He will be so guilty of his crimes and hand himself in!”

 

…

 

That-

 

Okay, I’ll probably need the longer version of this when I get the chance, but this sounded incredibly dangerous yet incredibly interesting. Changing one’s psyche like that would most likely cause side effects and could prove to be quite damaging in the wrong hands. But at the same time, this could help with therapy and other things like…

 

...God, now I really want to know more, but I’ve wasted too much time here now and I need to go back and see Yusuke-

 

Yusuke.

 

Oh.

 

“Wait, Morgana, can I ask a question?”

 

“Sure!”  
  


* * *

 

“Wait,” Ryuji spoke up as he realised something. Ann fiddled with the bandana with her hands, quietly listening in as she took mental notes. “If we have another Palace, does that mean we have a new job already?!”

 

“Yep, it’s another big guy too and we’re going to get a new member, though it's likely temporary.” Morgana confirmed, his voice now low. “However, we may need to hold off with the Palace for now.”

 

“...Why’s that?”

 

Morgana sighed.

 

“It was at his request. The new guy wanted to make sure that he can do what he can do on his side. Apparently, this Madarame has someone underneath him with nowhere else to go, if we make the wrong move too early this someone will no longer have a future.” 

 

“O-Oh.”

 

“Also? I know we need to steal the hearts of the rotten adults and gain the trust of the population, but we also need a break.” Morgana scolded. “We can’t just run into another Palace when we just finished the last one not even a week ago.”

 

“Yeah,” Ann muttered. “We were kinda losing time on Kamoshida’s, the last section of the Palace was infuriating.” They were really cutting it close, they just barely had 4 days left before they had finally located the Treasure. She paused, noticing something near a corner. “This bandana… It looks like someone made it by hand… Takashi Urobuchi?”  

 

“Urobuchi?” Ryuji looked at the cloth. “Is that the guys name?”

 

A beat.

 

“I...Never asked.”

 

“You never asked?!”

 

“Well- Who asks a Phantom Thief’s real name in the middle of the heist?!”

 

“He’s not really one of us though, nor were you on an actual heist.”

 

Morgana grumbled. 

 

So, they had a mystery thief now with no name, with the only way to identify him was with Morgana’s account. 

 

“Was there… Anything else?”

 

“Hmm… His mask was weird, it just barely resembles a butterfly in shape but more pointy. But his clothes were even weirder, it looked like a strange mishmash of multiple things and it didn’t look right, sorta smelt like latex too.” He mumbled the last part to himself.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“And he had a… Rather large butt.”

 

“Umm...” 

 

They weren’t sure how to process that.

 

“What about his normal looks?” Ann asked. “You said you saw him before you entered the Palace, right?”

 

“He had short black hair, freckles and his skin was white and his eyes- Actually he reminds me of you Lady Ann! I think he’s half Japanese!”

 

“O-Oh?”

 

“Oh, and his eyes. Honestly, their super weird. But, easily recognisable. They look like the eyes of one’s Shadow self, but with some pink in them as well. I think he was wearing a coat of some kind..?”

 

“Shadow eyes with some pink..?”

 

Morgana said nothing more about it, clearly lost in his thoughts.

 

“Hold on, Morgana?” Ann stared at the cat suspiciously. “Why didn’t you tell us about what happened with him and the Shadow? Did… Did something bad happen?”

 

“Umm…”

 

Akira looked at him, silent for a moment. “Is… He actually a serial killer?”

 

“What?!”

 

“For real?! Was it brutal when he killed it?!”  
  
“No, no!” Morgana suddenly looked away, completely flustered. “I don’t wanna explain, I don’t wanna remember any of that!”

 

“Jeez Mona, you make it sound like he was doing something lewd-”

 

“Hey, Akira!”

 

The cat immediately threw himself at Akira, planting itself on the chest of the startled teen with a wide-eyed, almost frantic look in his eyes.

 

“Aren’t you tired today? Let’s go back home and sleep!”

 

“B-But what about the-”

 

“Good-bye, team! I’ll show you the thing tomorrow, I need to make sure this guy gets some good night sleep. Cause we’ve been through ALOT today and Akira must have been crying his eyes out when I vanished, isn’t that right?”

 

“I wasn’t c-crying!”

 

“Eh, close enough!” 

 

“And all- all we did was go to school and then Shibuya!”

 

“But the train ride was sooo long!”

 

“At least let me get something to eat!”

 

“Nah, let’s just go, pretty please?” 

 

Morgana stared into the depths of Akira’s eyes, quickly turning away when it looked like Akira was about to freak out. “I… I really don’t want to talk about it.”

 

Looks like they weren’t going to get any information out of him.

 

That was annoying.

 

And just when Akira was about to turn around and wave his friends off-

 

“H-Hey, excuse me?”

 

A girl cut him off.

 

It was a red-eyed girl who stopped him, who’s matching red hair was tied up in a ponytail with a confused expression on her face. She wore a Shujin uniform just like them which looked immaculate and undamaged, as well as a pin on her blazer to show them that she was a first year.

 

He’s never seen her before though. And she seemed quite… Nervous, jittery, like a timid fawn scared and frightened by the teams gazes on her.

 

“Yeah..? Can I… Help you?”

 

His speech suddenly started to slur again, the stranger sent him on an uncomfortable edge, not even Morgana could pry him out of.

 

“I’m sorry to bother you, but do you know where this place is?”

 

It was her phone, showing an image of the front of a beef bowl shop Akira quickly realised was the same shop he went to the other night in Shibuya, which was a couple of minutes walk from where they were.

 

So, after pointing that out, the girl nodded, stealing a quick glance before looking away again. “Thank you Ak-...”  
  
And immediately ran off without another word.

 

“What was up with her..?”

 

* * *

 

“So… Why do you look different suddenly?”

 

_“I was experimenting with my form, trying to regain my strength. However, no matter what, I cannot seem to return to my true form. This… This is the closest I can even obtain.”_

 

“I see, I see.”

 

_“But those wings of the metal angels… I see.”_

 

“What was that?”

 

_“Nothing you need to be concerned about.”_

 

“Translation: I’m not telling you what is most likely super important information which may involve a future life or death scenario.”

 

_“You can believe what you want to believe. However, if it does come to a life or death situation, I can assure you, I will not let you die under my watch.”_

 

_“Why thank you Nyarly, I’ll make to appreciate your undying love and loyalty to me.”_

 

_“...Your sarcasm has not gone unnoticed. And Nyarly?”_

 

_“I am not calling you Nyarlathotep constantly, it’s way too long to keep saying to you so it's Nyarly.”_

 

_“...I despise you.”_

 

* * *

 

“Ki-Kitagawa-san?”

 

I made my way back to Yusuke’s just as the first stars were starting to peek in the slowly darkening sky, my lips still wet from the Apsaras that still had that watery aftertaste. It still felt strange on my tongue, it was a fuzzy feeling.

 

And the collar around my neck felt like it was right at home.

 

It didn’t disappear.

 

And the fear of losing this made my heart thud.

 

But now I have another fear.

 

Yusuke wasn’t responding.

 

And hallways were dark, with not even a dim light to show the floor. While it didn’t have a flashlight function, the light of my phone’s screen was more than enough to at least show me where I was going.

 

And that was when I noticed on the opposite end of the hallway, a dim light emitting from behind a set of doors, which I quickly realised was the art room that Yusuke had dragged me in previously.

 

The light flickered when I went closer, and just before I readjusted my glasses and went to slide the door open.

 

Retching.

 

Violent retching, I should say, followed by gagging and coughing and spluttering and the vile smell of bile and puke. I opened the door carefully, hoping not to startle the other behind the door.

 

And it was such a gross sight.

 

Yusuke was trembling on the floor on all fours, his lips slathered in spit and bile as well as the tears that were running down his face. And well, I didn’t really need to describe the puke beyond that it's his tea, did I?

 

That was he noticed me as I stepped into the room, his eyes suddenly bulging out before he retched again. The sounds made me shudder in revulsion, making me turn away from the noise and the sight before I ended up losing my lunch too. When it was over, all I could hear were hiccups. 

 

The poor thing looked quite upset, gagging and heaving violently before the shudders finally calmed down and he finally took note of my presence.

 

And he looked so, so helplessly apologetic.

 

And so much paler and ill than he did before.

 

“M-My apologies, I couldn’t-”

  
  
“It’s alright,” I muttered, before repeating slightly louder so he could hear. “I’m not mad.”

 

“I should have mentioned that-” He winced. “I… I have not been able to stomach large quantities of food for the past few weeks. I made you waste your money on me.”

 

Ah.

 

He must have been so hungry to the point he forgot.

 

“That sounds pretty bad, Kitagawa-san.” Avoiding the bile, I walked up and patted his back gently, causing a few hiccups to escape his mouth. “You should probably go see a doctor about it if it's been like this for so long.”

 

“I- I can’t. Sensei says it's because I am still recovering from a stomach bug and that it will be over soon.”

 

...I shouldn’t pry anymore in that cause, he’ll just snap at me.

 

“Do you have a mop and some tissues lying about?”

 

“Yes, there is a mop on the other side of the room and tissues are in the toilet down the hall- Wait, please don’t clean this, it’s my-”

 

“I’ll be right back, just stay put alright?”

 

“Wait!”

 

I didn’t bother stopping, immediately heading out for the mop, washing up liquids, some water and tissues and taking a few minutes to come back to see Yusuke huddled up in the corner and staying as far as possible from the mess, wiping his mouth with the back of his hands.

 

...I should probably call him Kitagawa in my head too, but I’m so used to first names it’s gonna feel fucking weird. Oh, whatever.  

 

“Kitagawa-san.” I put the drink next to him, “Here you go, and the tissues too. Erm, I couldn’t find anything for you to spit into, sorry.”

 

“It really isn’t any trouble, let me clean up.”

 

“No no! It’s fine, it's the least I can do for you letting me stay here.”

 

Wasting no time I started to pour in a small amount of the liquid into the bucket and began to clean, trying my best not to focus too much on the mess. It was silent between us all the while, with the occasional swig of water before he spat it out in another bucket hidden under his desk which I never noticed before he began to wipe his mouth clean.

 

It felt, unnerving.

 

The atmosphere felt thick with tension, all of which was coming from Yusuke. I could feel how uneasy he felt, how he squirmed and looked uncomfortably warm.

 

“...Are you going to be sick again?”

 

“N-No. I just don’t understand…”

 

“Under-” Ew, ew ew. “Understand what?”

 

“Why are you helping me?”

 

“...Cause it’s common decency? I mean, sure we’ve known each other for like, a day now? But even strangers need to be kind to others if we need to live, you know?”

 

‘And clearly, you're not in a good physical state to even stand.’

 

He stayed silent after that, allowing me to finish in peace and think on his words.

 

Madarame.

 

That man gave me nothing but bad feelings since I first laid eyes on him.

 

I could tell without a doubt that this was abuse. If Madarame was as popular and as rich as everyone mentioned, then he should at least be able to make this place more livable and treat his student with decency or at least get him checked out for illness that’s been going on for a few weeks. And those rumours of plagiarism, which has apparently been going on for years, that I heard from those kids made him even more suspicious.

 

And the Palace...

 

 _“Palaces are indeed places formed by warped desire, as the cat said.”_ Nyarly finally spoke up. _“However, I don’t just want you to steal it.”_

 

...Oh? What do you want me to do?

 

_“You’ll be informed when the time comes.”_

 

What a surprise. You tell me such interesting beginnings but never actually tell me the important parts.

 

_“It’s difficult enough knowing that even I have to feel your disgusting pleasures, any more questions and I will risk finding a new host.”_

 

Alright, alright.

 

By the time the mental conversation had finished, I had finished cleaning the floor and now had a dirty bucket for me to clean. I would empty the bucket, refill it and do a double clean, however, it was far too late for that now.

 

Besides, we’re both tired for very different reasons.

 

“I’ve cleaned and dried the floor,” I called out to Yusuke as I started to scratch at my hands, who snapped himself out of his daydreams looking less paler than before. “Do you want to go to bed?”

 

“Yes. I shall get the futons out.”

 

I nodded. “Then when morning comes, we’ll get ahead with the modelling, yeah?”

 

“Of course. Once more, thank you for your help.”

 

“No problem.”

 

Good, good. The sooner I rest, the better. Today has been exhausting, for obvious reasons.

 

...The front of my right hand was starting to sting like a bitch.

 

Hopefully, it's just allergies or whatever, I can’t deal with this right now I’m too tired-

 

Pain.

 

My right hand was suddenly enveloped in burning hot pain, it was like a sudden harsh kick to the stomach from a horse that sent me crashing onto the floor and sent all of my nerves into fiery disarray. For a brief moment, it settled down, my brain still registering the painful whiplash that got sent to it-

 

Yusuke’s voice was the very last thing I heard before burning darkness overwhelmed me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chap is loooong.
> 
> I'm going back to 53 Lies after this, college is starting up soon.
> 
> Also fun fact, at the time of posting this, it's 31st of December, AKA, my Birthday!
> 
> So Happy Birthday to me,
> 
> And have a wonderful new year everyone!


End file.
